Nov 19, 2012 3 min read

Auxiliary members of McDonald Veterans of Foreign Wars post will be rising in the early morning hours of Nov. 26 to ready a breakfast for those heading out to hunt deer.

The $10 all-you-can-eat meal will benefit not only the hunters who need to fortify themselves for a day in the woods and fields, but also the McDonald Food Pantry and its recipients.

“Our food pantry is in very, very bad shape,” said Roberta Garn of McDonald, longtime supporter of veterans programs.

“Everyone I’ve talked to so far said they don’t have hunters breakfasts like they used to,” said Garn after spending most of Wednesday distributing posters publicizing the event. “Non-hunters are also welcome.

“Even if we take in $100, that’s more than we had.”

Garn was also an organizer for a recent flea market that raised $466 this fall to benefit the McDonald meals-on-wheels program. Now she has mobilized the Barclay-Robinson-Phillips Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 567 Ladies Auxiliary to sponsor the breakfast from 4 to 11 a.m. Monday, Nov. 26, at American Legion Post 485, 201 East Lincoln Ave., McDonald.

The legion building is accessible to the disabled, so that’s why the VFW auxiliary selected it as a venue.

The menu includes eggs, bacon, sausage, ham, pancakes, French toast, sausage gravy with biscuits, home fries, toast, juice and coffee.

Tickets are for sale at the Hoodarain Florist Shop, 111 East Lincoln Ave., McDonald, and at the door on the day of the event.

“The cupboards are bare after every distribution,” said Molly Brown Errett, director of the McDonald food pantry.

As part of the local effort, Fort Cherry Elementary School held a food drive, collecting 1,825 items. McDonald Food Pantry also has the continued support of congregations in the McDonald Ministerium. American Legion Post 45 organized a food drive last month for the local pantry, collecting $600 and two pickup truckloads of food. Garn has scheduled another food drive from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 15, at the VFW Post, 125 East Lincoln Ave.

On days when food is distributed, those in need of food often begin lining up at 6:30 a.m., even though the doors do not open until 8 a.m.

McDonald Food Panty serves about 110 recipients, plus another 23 from Haveloch Commons highrise for the elderly. In 2008, it averaged about 75.

Lisa Nuccetelli, executive director of the Greater Washington County Food Bank, the parent organization of local food pantries, spoke of the importance of community support for each of the food bank’s 36 pantries.

“The help goes straight to that pantry in that area,” she said. “I think the pantries see they’re coming up short right now because there is such an increase in need out there.

“It is beneficial to our clients when individuals and organizations in Washington County come together and assist food pantries within their communities to help those needing food assistance.”