Tables full of of food spilled out into the hallway at the Lansing Food Pantry in The FIELD Saturday as kids from local soccer clubs and Kids In Action Now (KANS) helped sort and box cartloads of food and other items.  The December food pantry distribution day is traditionally a special day, including turkeys and chickens for holiday dinners, as well as more food than usual.

"We get a ton of food in before the food pantry on Monday," says Kids In Action Now Advisor Bonnie Blair.  "There is an overwhelming amount of food -- an overwhelming amount of generosity.  We have cart loads from Lansing Market.  We have decorated boxes from the Elementary School food train.  Some of the food pantry clients love to take those boxes home."

Included in the food distributed Monday was turkeys and chickens from Lansing Market so that families in need can have a holiday meal.  Eight of those turkeys were paid for by an anonymous donor.  Lansing Middle and High Schools held food drives before Thanksgiving, and the Elementary school held one early in December.  Other donations came from Sweet Peas Preschool and Lansing Market's paper bag drive.

While a lot of the food comes from ther Food bank of the Southern Tier throughout the year, local churches and individuals donate toiletries, cosmetics, paper goods and other non-food items families need.


Food Pantry Director Nancy Myers and Blair have coordinated the December food giveaway for years.  When the food pantry was at the Lansing United Methodist Church (LUMC) they got church kids to pitch in.

"Nancy is always looking for opportunities for the kids in the community to contribute," Blair says.  "Last year the National Honor Society kids did a lot of the food pantry setup.  Any time she hears an idea that lets the kids or the community get involved she's all for it.  Sometimes it's a little more work, but the payoff is tremendous.  To have the kids understand that they own the helping here is worth every single second."

The food pantry has only been at The RINK/The FIELD since October.  Prior to that it was located at LUMC.  But short on space and long on people in need, the food pantry made the move when the Community Recreation Center board voted to donate the space.


"Last Monday was the final food pantry distribution day of 2014," Myers says.  "I'm very grateful for that because I wanted three months of dust to settle to see what we need to do.  Every time I turn around all I need to do is say I need something and it's here."

Blair says that getting the soccer clubs involved makes sense since they play at The FIELD every winter.  They and the KANS kids were quite busy sorting Saturday morning, with tables set up that filled the food pantry room and reached about half the length of The FIELD along the wall.

"The kids' boundless energy when they work on things like this makes it a joyful process," Blair says.  "It's an awful lot of fun to work with the kids to do this kind of stuff."

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