SCRANTON, Pa. — Barrels and bags of food came rolling out of West Scranton High School as students and faculty helped load them into a truck.
Berger's Furniture provided a truck and a few employees to start gathering Feed a Friend barrels filled with donations from nearly 60 locations.
United Neighborhood Centers is in charge of the donations in Lackawanna County. Dana Force, the assistant director of community services, says these nonperishable items will help feed many families during the holidays.
"Everybody always has a very generous heart. Even people that might be struggling are also very generous to others as well. So, it's just so nice to always see the community pull together and support one another," said Force.
Another stop to pick up donations was Gerrity's supermarket on South Main Avenue in Scranton.
Store manager Jason Tarreto says customers always step up to help others in need during the holidays.
"We're constantly emptying it, getting it picked up, especially around this time that's filling up three or four times a day," Tarreto said.
Some donations are already stacked up inside the United Neighborhood Center's food pantry. Force says they weren't sure what to expect this year because of the rising costs of food and the number of families struggling financially.
"We've been seeing more families coming through the door, more families seeking assistance with food items. And so, our concern was, you know, are we going to be able to meet the demand?"
The Feed a Friend program is wrapping up, but Force says the need won't end with this campaign.
"If you see maybe a few extra items on sale, maybe think about purchasing some and donating them to the community. It won't go to waste. All of the food that we collect is used to help supplement people's needs during the holiday season."
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