The holiday season centers around the spirit of giving and assisting those in need. The Fish Food Pantry does that by providing food to Knox County families in need.
Fish Food Pantry Board Member Larry Wood said the pantry receives about three to four times as many donations during the holiday season, as it does during the rest of the year.
He said the only other time the pantry receives a boost like that is during the spring, after the postal carriers food drive.
Despite the amplified holiday support, Wood said it does not cannot compete with the increasing number of people in need.
“The number of clients that we get that use the food pantry are going up every year, they increase. More people are using our service, but the donations and the monetary and food donations are not going up at the same pace,” Wood said.
Wood said the pantry needs monetary donations, just as much as food donations. He said the financial gifts received go a long way.
“We spend a dollar, we can typically get $6 worth of food because we buy it from a distribution house,” Wood said.
In 2013, Fish Food Pantry served around 6,700 families in Knox County. That year, the pantry spent around $129,000 on food. Wood said that was an increase of around 19% over 2012.
