Season of giving
July 4, 2008 · Updated 11:39 AM
On this, the last shopping weekend before Christmas, volunteers at the Bremerton Foodline will be assembling nearly 600 holiday dinner baskets, but they need some help.
We need canned yams, stuffing, pickles, olives, gravy, said Foodline Executive Director Hoyt Burrows as volunteers stocked shelves and brought in donations Wednesday morning.
The baskets, which include a ham or turkey and as many fixings as available, will be distributed Monday through Wednesday.
While the support for the Foodline has remained steady, demand for its services has increased over last year.
According to Burrows statistics the food bank handed out 660 Thanksgiving baskets this year, while last year they gave away 525. In addition to the baskets, the food bank served 812 families for the month of November. In a typical month, October for example they serve about 950 families or 2,900 people.
When Burrows began as executive director Jan. 1, 1998 the food bank was serving about 425 families.
I cant really pinpoint why the numbers are going up, Burrows said, but one third of the people asking for assistance do so a single time.
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