Food bank seeks help

SANDPOINT — Have you wanted to buy a turkey to donate to the food bank and changed your mind because you had no time to deliver the bird?

Or perhaps Bonner Community Food Center closes before you get off work.

Donating a turkey to the community food center is easier than you may think, said director Alice Wallace.

“There’s all kinds of ways to donate (turkeys) and we can work with people,” Wallace said.

While doing your household shopping at Yoke’s and Safeway, you can drop an extra turkey in your cart for the food bank and store staff will call the food bank, which will then pick up the turkeys, she said.

This year Wallace is worried that the Food Center will not have enough turkeys after a major donor from past years was unable to give nearly as much money as in the past to buy the Thanksgiving dinner centerpieces.

Bonner Community Food Center expects to fill an estimated 800 to 850 food boxes this year.

The food bank would like to have the turkeys by Nov. 16 so staff has time to fill the food boxes, Wallace said.

This year, Thanksgving falls on Nov. 26.

A verbal commitment also would be helpful if people intend to donate a turkey, but plan on making the purchase when the store sale take place during the week before Thanksgiving.

So far, since putting out a call for help from the community, the nonprofit has received about $3,500 in donations to purchase turkeys, equal to 300 turkeys. An additional dozen turkeys also have been donated to the food center.

The food bank began taking requests for Thanksgiving boxes on Monday.

So far, 250 people have filled out applications, Wallace said.

Information: Bonner Community Food Center, 263-3663