Town Employees Donate to Local Food Pantry

Clayton town employees, coming together at their annual banquet luncheon, celebrated the holidays by making a generous donation of all sorts of food products to a local food bank.

The food goods, which were stacked high on a Clayton Center staircase, will be distributed locally through the New Trinity Missionary Baptist Church Food Pantry.

"I'm extremely proud of our folks for the generosity they've demonstrated," said Town Manager Steve Biggs. "It was easily twice as much as I expected. They've made this holiday a special one despite the tough times we've had during the year."

Employees decided recently to give their annual get-together added meaning by using it to lend a helping hand to those in the community who have been impacted by the harsh economic conditions of the last couple of years. Support for the idea was overwhelming, though many of them have been impacted, too.

"All of our employees have experienced the impact of the current economic climate through reduction of benefits, loss of the merit program, and a deferment of the cost of living adjustment that we have become accustomed to," the Town Manager said. "Certain of our co-workers have experienced even more dire consequences from the recession in the form of reduced working hours and income. All that having been said, we are much more fortunate than many, many people in our community."

Volunteer Michael Sims said the Food Pantry is "extremely excited to have this wonderful donation."

"Donations are down, especially in the canned goods area, that's why this is going to be such a lift for us, especially during holiday time when the need is greater," he said. "We could use more donations like this one."

The Pantry is presently giving direct help to more than 100 local families, Sims said, and that number is expected to increase over the next few weeks.