Any combination of factors may be the cause, but a solution is needed now to fill what are being described as "barren" shelves at the Guilford Food Bank, as Tammy DeFrancesco of Guilford Social Services tells me. This Thanksgiving, the Food Bank took in less than half of the donations of past years. Complicating the low supply is the need to fill some 150 Christmas/Holiday meal basket requests, delivering the main ingredients for a holiday meal to be prepared by Guilford families in need. Here's how you can help:

For the Christmas Holiday Baskets (hams, turkeys, beef stew, cranberry sauce, dinner rolls, coffee, tea, stuffing mix, gravy, pie filling, pie crust mix, juice, instant, dried or canned potatoes; fresh potatoes or sweet potatoes or squash, onions, celery or carrots; canned veggies, etc.) the Guilford Food Bank is accepting donations at the VFW Post #7666, 104 Mill Rd. on the following dates:

Tuesday, December 20th 2:00 pm to 6:00 pm
Wednesday, December 21st 2:00 pm to 6:00 pm

There is also a pod outside of the VFW that is open to drop off non-perishable donations prior to the posted Christmas donation dates.

There will also be a Holiday Food Drive sponsored by Guilford Veterinary Hospital and Munger Lumber, on Saturday, December 17, 2011 at Wal-Mart in Guilford 7am to 7pm. All donations will be brought to the VFW to assemble the food baskets; after the baskets are completed all remaining donations will be brought to the Guilford Food Bank.

It's also hoped that the Guilford community will take into account that the Guilford Food Bank needs their help continuously through out the year, as well as during this season of giving.
Every Friday morning from 9am to 12 noon, donations of food are accepted at 45 Stone House Lane. Also, Palumbo's Automotive and Big Y always accept non-perishable donations during business hours on behalf of Guilford Food Bank.