A donation by Tomah Health staff, providers and board members made this holiday a bit merrier for Tomah’s Neighbor for Neighbor Food Pantry.
Tomah Health marketing & public relations director Eric Prise said a $3,150 donation to the pantry is from hospital staff, board members and volunteers who had the opportunity to accept a gift card from the hospital as a holiday gift or donate the value of the item. Prise said that over the last 12 years the organization has made the donation, which has totaled nearly $30,000 to the local pantry.
Food Pantry operations director Dawn Pleuss said the donation is vital to daily operations for the pantry at 1118 W. Veterans St., Tomah. “The $3,150 will help us with our day-to-day expenses, electricity, gas, just to keep the building up and going,” said Pleuss. “People think food pantries and they think donations of food, but we also need money to keep the doors open and keep things up and running.” She said the facility recently replaced a freezer.
Pleuss said while food donations typically decrease following the holidays, the number of people visiting the facility continues to increase. “Everything is getting too expensive for them, and they are super thankful that we’re there to help them out with just that little bit of extra stuff every month.”
She said last month nearly 600 families were served compared to about 400 families at this time last year.