Pantry

Every year the Finneran family of Eldersburg invites residents to view their haunted house display, at 6208 Longleaf Pine Road, Eldersburg, and ask that visitors bring canned goods to donate to Carroll County Food Sunday. It's the family's idea of helping the food bank while providing a frightfully good time for friends and neighbors. The display will be open for a special "graveyard walking tour" on Monday, Oct. 31, 6 to 9 p.m.

When a load of bagged salad arrived at the Fishes & Loaves food pantry in West Baltimore recently, people scooped it up quickly. Salad is a treat for the more than 100 people who come to the pantry each month but usually face a limited choice of high-sodium canned goods, cereal, and jars of spaghetti sauce. The Rev. Andre Samuels, who runs the pantry, wants to offer more nutritious options but said they are expensive or hard to find at the distributors, nonprofit and government agencies where he gets food.

Business and community interests don't always see eye-to-eye, but in a tight-knit area such as Towson, the people we do business with are often those who make their lives, as well as their living, here. Even business owners who don't fall into that category at least recognize that when the community is healthy, active and prosperous, they are, too. That's why it's equal parts admirable and logical that the Towson business community is coming to the aid of the Assistance Centers of Towson Churches.

Towson area businesses this week launched a two-week food drive to restock the shelves at the food pantry at the Assistance Center of Towson Churches following a slow summer of donations and a period of high need. "This time of year is always difficult to keep on top of demand," said Cathy Burgess, director of the assistance center. "High unemployment and lean budgets have so many people in the Towson area struggling to keep a roof over their head and food on the table. " Several Towson businesses, including local law firms, building owners, government and financial services firms are collecting nonperishable food through Sept.

No doubt, you've driven past the building on Gorman Avenue, known as Elizabeth House, numerous times. Unless there were clients on the porch, or men and women lined up waiting to get in for the evening meal, you probably didn't give it a second look. Every Thursday morning, a determined group of volunteers shows up at this fairly nondescript building to do work that is vital and necessary. Under the guidance of Judi Kuntz and Snyder Pate, these men and women sort through donated food items, pack bags and distribute groceries to those in the area who, for a myriad of reasons, just don't have enough.

As they have done for nearly 30 years, Baltimore-area Boy Scouts will help the homeless and hungry with a food drive aimed at filling the shelves at food pantries, soup kitchens and shelters. Hundreds of uniformed Scouts will fan out in their neighborhoods next weekend, distributing collection bags and asking residents to fill them with nonperishable foods throughout the following week. Each bag will come with a postcard describing the most appropriate types of food to donate. All items are welcome, but organizers note a widespread need for hearty soup, stew or chili as well as canned tuna, chicken, salmon or luncheon meat, such as Spam.

Have you ever seen the show "Hoarders"? I'm fairly certain that if my grandfather were alive, he would have been featured on the reality TV series. He had good intentions and meant to sell his many collections of rare, interesting and unusual items, but he was a pack rat nonetheless. His collecting always outpaced his selling. And while the main living areas of his house were fairly uncluttered, the basement and garage were unnavigable. He also had several outbuildings, sheds and mobile homes on his property loaded with stuff.

For struggling families with young children, the seemingly endless need for baby diapers can prove a real financial strain. Realizing the need, a local nonprofit group recently teamed up with a diaper company to donate more than 11,000 disposable diapers to an organization serving more than 75 social service groups in Anne Arundel County and the Eastern Shore. The Junior League of Annapolis collected the diapers through donations from its 400 members and by holding diaper drives outside local stores in November and December.

Larry Evans nods in agreement when he hears that many of his fellow Marylanders are struggling to put food on the table. Evans, out of work since July, says he isn't surprised the numbers have increased - and that he's not the only one to sometimes face an empty plate. "Food-wise, it's been tough," Evans said. "My sister has been a big help, but after a while, you can only go so far with that." Evans, 52, was eating lunch at Bel Air United Methodist Church courtesy of Manna House, which has provided a free meal and a bag of groceries to patrons each Wednesday for the past 20 years.