Food Bank gets ton of supplies

ODESSA – Odessa Food Bank director Merleen Smith says the Odessa community has once again produced an outpouring of kindness and generosity. It takes many willing hearts and hands to fill Thanksgiving and Christmas bags for those who receive them. "Let us give thanks to the Lord for His unfailing love and His wonderful deeds for men, for He satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things." Psalms 107:8-9.

For both the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays, Odessa Foods helps with orders of food. The Odessa Record helps get the word out about the food drive. Youth and adult volunteers give of themselves to distribute bags and collect food during the food drive (once again more than 2,000 pounds of food collected). A group of ladies sorts the food items donated. The 8th-grade ag class and their advisor help with stacking and shelving of the collected items. Odessa Trading Company employees transport the turkeys to the Food Bank facility. The school's Honor Society members and their advisor help fill and distribute the bags of food.

Those who travel to pick up the food deliveries and who load and unload the items also deserve recognition, as does the gift of the facility provided by the Odessa Foursquare Church. The Odessa Community Ministerial Association sponsors the Odessa Food Bank, and the community of Odessa at large makes food and monetary donations to help low-income households enjoy hearty holiday meals.

"How grateful we are to live in a community that works together in the spirit of kindness and generosity," says Smith.