A food pantry in Scranton reopened its doors Wednesday after receiving a large donation that helped to restock its bare cupboards.
For the past two weeks, officials at Angel's Attic, the food pantry at United Neighborhood Centers' community service building, were forced to turn residents away, citing a food shortage.
On Wednesday, members of Temple Hesed in Scranton helped solve that problem. They delivered more than 3,600 pounds of food to the pantry at 410 Olive St.
"Every year, the congregation tries to donate as much as we can," said Rabbi Daniel Swartz, who said last year the congregation collected about 2,400 pounds. "This year we learned of the food shortage, so we asked all families to give a little more."
Michael Hanley, the executive director of United Neighborhood Centers of Northeastern Pennsylvania, said the weeks leading up to the holidays are always "toughest," as people are busy preparing for the upcoming winter.
This year has been no exception, he said, adding that it has gotten "progressively worse" in recent years.
"The problem is that more and more people need assistance now, and we haven't been able to keep up with it," Mr. Hanley said. "It's never easy to turn someone away, but we don't have any choice.
"It got to a point where we had to put a sign on the door saying, 'No more food.'â"
Mr. Hanley said he wasn't sure how many people this donation would feed, or how many people officials have had to turn away.
But he said he believes the people in the region will do everything in their power to ensure something like this doesn't happen again.
"We have a tremendously generous community," he said. "People really respond when they find out that people are in need."
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