Sue Sitter/PCT Volunteers assemble boxes for delivery to families the Pierce County Food Pantry serves.

Approximately 30 volunteers met at the Pierce County Food Pantry in the Rugby Armory last Saturday morning to put together boxes of turkeys, stuffing and Christmas treats for delivery to local homes.

People of all ages lined up along tables, grabbing boxes from a stack and putting items like potatoes, vegetables, rolls, margarine, and plates of homemade cookies in each one as they passed them along assembly-line style.

“We have kids from the grade school, the high school, and the CYO (Catholic Youth Organization),” said Food Pantry Director Vonnie Degenstein. “We also have (food from) the Stuff the Truck from Leevers, too, so it’s really big.”

Other volunteers had finished school and careers some years ago, but eagerly carried pies and bags of red potatoes to the tables, chatting with friends and enjoying their work.

Degenstein said she was grateful for the donations and help for local families. “This year, we are delivering 217 boxes.”

“That’s what’s filled our shelves,” she said of the recent gifts from the community. “Right now, people really donate, but we have to go all year round,” Degenstein added.

Degenstein shared a reminder for the public: The food pantry takes donations throughout the year.

Pointing to a row of freezers, she noted the food pantry accepts donations of meats and frozen items.

“We take anything,” Degenstein added. We’ve got a good supply of diapers right now; we take soaps, and things like that, too and laundry detergent.

Degenstein noted, “We buy (produce) from Leevers (with financial donations), because it’s perishable. However, Degenstein said the food pantry welcomes donations of vegetables from summer gardeners. “We like to get summer vegetables.”

Anyone interested in making donations to the Pierce County Food Pantry may call 776-5597.