By Brenda Starkey
Chronicle correspondent

     Food banks everywhere face struggles this time of year as the cold winter blows in and the harvest is depleted, and The People’s Pantry in Ferry County is no exception, said agency director Barbara Coyle.
     The organization’s goal is to provide a day’s worth of food to 96 households or 256 individuals each week.
     Thanksgiving week grocery bags were to contain turkey hindquarters along with the regular canned goods, day-old baked goods and other commodities, according to Coyle, who heads up the all-volunteer People’s Pantry work force.
     The pantry also provides monthly bags of groceries to seniors and home-bound residents.
     “This time of year we really appreciate donations,” she said.
     During November the pantry received a $100 cash donation from the Northeast Washington Association of Realtors Inc., and donations from food drives conducted by the Saddle Lites 4-H Club and AmeriCorps, she said.
     The need is growing, according to Coyle.
     “We’ve had people in the last couple months who’ve said they never thought they’d be standing in line here,” she said. “We say, ‘that’s what we’re here for.’ Things are getting tougher.”
     The People’s Pantry distributes food through a window at the Republic Presbyterian Church every Thursday afternoon between 2:30 and 4:30 p.m. A satellite pantry at the Curlew Presbyterian Church is open the second and fourth Thursday mornings of each month, Coyle said.
     The pantry receives food from Northwest Harvest, Seattle, and commodities from Rural Resources, Colville.
     Funding also is received from FEMA. The Rose and Crown Thrift Store furnished $4,000 in 2008, according to a financial report.
     Donations in 2008 totaled $9,845, which included $1,269 received at the Holiday Harmony fund-raiser, the report continued.
     Cash donations allow the pantry to take advantage of big case lot sales, Coyle said.
     But Coyle says there won’t be a Holiday Harmony program this year. She has headed that up in past years, but family commitments are preventing her involvement with the project this year, she said.
     “People of Ferry County and friends in faraway places, you have made a difference with your generous donations,” according to an announcement from the pantry. “Please consider making a financial donation monthly, quarterly or annually.”
     Donations from food drives or individuals wishing to provide groceries may be brought to the pantry in the basement of the Republic Presbyterian Church on Thursday afternoons, Coyle said.
     Monetary donations may be mailed to The People’s Pantry, P.O. Box 562, Republic 99166.
     Coyle, who retired as pastor of the Presbyterian Church two years ago, has been involved with the non-profit, 501(c)(3) People’s Pantry since its founding in May 2003.
     “The story of the People’s Pantry is so wonderful,” Coyle said. “I love this place.”
     Other food banks are located in Brewster, Nespelem (Colville Confederated Tribes), Conconully, Inchelium (CCT), Keller (CCT), Okanogan, Omak, Oroville, Twisp and Tonasket. For details: http://www.omakchronicle.com/infobook/organizations.shtml#support, scroll to “Food and clothing banks, emergency food.”