Sandy Leavell, Director of Social Services at the Chattanooga Salvation Army, speaks about the shortage of food at the Salvation Army food panty. The Salvation Army said it needs supplies such as dry foods like rice and pasta to better serve the needs of the community. So empty, in fact, that the food pantry located at 2140 E. 28th St. recently alerted the organization's administration that it can't even fill one food box, which provides one family of four with complete meals for three to five days.
HOW TO DONATE
For a full list of items needed, visit: http://csarmy.org/donate_drives.asp All items can be brought to The Salvation Army, located at 822 McCallie Ave., or to the Social Services Office located at 2140 East 28th St., 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m., Monday-Friday. If your church, business or school would like to do a "red barrel" donation drive, call Jennifer Fisher at 423-756-1023. Monetary donations may be made online at www.csarmy.org, by calling 1-800-SAL-ARMY, or by mailing the Salvation Army, 822 McCallie Ave., Chattanooga, TN 37403.
"We are desperately needing the community to donate food," said Sandy Leavell, director of social services for the Salvation Army.
Kimberly George, director of marketing for the Salvation Army of the Greater Chattanooga area, said that, although the food pantry usually sees a dip in inventory heading into spring, the current situation is critical.
"The holidays and the cold weather lead to high demand, and we haven't had many food drives lately, but except for a few cans of vegetables, the shelves are bare," George said.
George said any donations are appreciated. She said the pantry needs non-perishable food items such as pasta and grains, proteins like peanut butter, canned meats, beans and chili, and even staple items like flour, sugar and cornmeal.
Contact Will Healey at whealey@timesfreepress.com or at 423-757-6731.