Silver Springs, Nevada – This week’s Silver Stage Food Pantry news includes recognition for several groups that recently added support to the Pantry: Dollar General Stores, the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) of Virginia City, Northern Nevada Motorcylcle Association, and Safe Project of Reno.

Silver Stage Food Pantry manager Kathy McIntosh said, “We want to send out a huge thank you to Brenda Staples and the Virginia City VFW! We received their wonderful donation of $100 for food and plus $100 for gifts for our homebound seniors. They also will have barrels out for gifts in Virginia City.”

Kathy also thanked the Northern Nevada Motorcycle Association for their donation of toys and gifts to the Pantry’s annual “Shopping with the Elves” event. She explained that this is the third year in a row that the “good men and women of the Motorcycle Association have donated toys.”

Johnny and Susan Larkin of Safe Project recently donated an entire U-Haul truck full of food to the Pantry. Kathy said, “They have helped so many organizations, and we are so proud they have picked us to help also. What wonderful caring people they are.”

Dollar General stores in both Silver Springs and Dayton are collecting donations of toys for the Pantry’s December “Shopping with the Elves” event for children, and gifts for the area’s homebound elders. “How wonderful for these stores to partner with the Pantry to help make the holidays brighter,” Kathy said.

And finally, she stressed gratitude for the volunteers of the Pantry, saying, “we have three AmeriCorps members serving the Pantry, and many wonderful caring volunteers that make it all possible. The work is not easy – it is back breaking and hard, but they all do it with a smile and a loving heart.”

Special Holiday Hours and Events: Pantry hours are normally Monday through Friday from 10:00am – 4:00pm. However, during the holidays, the Pantry will close early (at 3pm) on Thursday, December 21, and will be closed December 25 and December 26, and also December 28 through January 1.

Patrons of the Pantry who have children will participate in the annual “Shopping with the Elves” event on Friday, December 22 from 1pm-4pm.

Part of a Regional Food Hub: The Silver Stage Food Pantry is one “spoke” in Healthy Communities’ regional Healthy Food Hub, an effort to increase access to and demand for affordable, local and sustainably grown food. The Pantry is located in Silver Springs at 3595 Ramsey Weeks Cutoff. For more information about donating or volunteering, call 775-577-9161.