Oceanside Community Service seeks Pantry Partners

Oceanside Community Service has gone to Facebook to help keep the shelves stocked at local food pantries. The group recently launched the Pantry Partner program to extend the important work it does through food drives in schools and around town.

A recent posting on Facebook read: “In these tough economic times, with the price of food rising daily, Oceanside Community Service is here to help our hardest-hit community members. But we realize it’s tough for EVERYBODY. By banding together we can go a long way to help our neighbors without stressing our own tightened budgets.”

The OCS Pantry Partners program makes it more manageable for citizens to help by listing a couple of target items—Items of the Week—on its Facebook page. In the first week of the project, pasta sauce and canned tomatoes were targeted. Betsy Transom, the chairperson of OCS, said the response was fantastic. “The program had a very good first week,” she said.

This week’s items, as the holidays near, are stuffing and cranberry sauce. Shoppers can pick up either or both items during a shopping trip and drop them off at one of the organization’s food bins, located at 2486 Columbus Ave. and 3300 First St.

“For an extra dollar or two a week—or as often as you are able —you can make a world of difference for your neighbors in need,” the Facebook message reads.

“Hunger is an ongoing problem,” Transom said. “But people can make a huge difference without that much of a burden, just a couple of dollars when they can. The Pantry Partners program allows community members to get involved, and allows us to target the items that we need most.”