The Demopolis High School Junior Reserved Officers Training Corps (JROTC) sponsored a canned food drive at the school, bringing in a sizeable donation to the Food Pantry.

“We collected over 5,000 cans of food for the Pantry,” said JROTC leader Sgt. Mike Black. “We also have cash donations totaling over $200.”

The school food drive began Nov. 1 and went through Friday.

“All of this was done just through the high school this year,” Black said. “We’ll beat what we had last year, especially with the cash donation, because they can buy food cheaper then we can.”

The Food Pantry buys food from the U.S. Department of Agriculture through the Food Bank in Tuscaloosa at 16 cents a pound.

Some people went door-to-door for donations to give to the Food Pantry.

“We’ve consistently been serving over 200 people a week,” said Jay Wright of the DHS JROTC who is also a member of Trinity Episcopal Church, which helps run the Food Pantry. “The numbers keep growing and growing. With the folks who actually run the Food Pantry on a day-to-day basis — they have the report at the (Trinity Episcopal) men’s breakfast every Friday — they tell us that every time they open the doors, they have more people.

“They only give out eight items, and one of the options they were looking at was expanding more cans. A lot of people are apparently in a lot of trouble out there. There is a lot of need out there.”

The Food Pantry is located at the historic B’nai Jeshrun Synagogue at the corner of Main Avenue and Monroe Street, and is open on Wednesdays from 7 to 9 a.m.

Those wanting to make donations can make tax-deductible monetary donations to the Food Pantry through the Trinity Episcopal Church, located across Main Avenue from the Food Pantry, or they can bring canned goods or non-perishable items to the Food Pantry when it is open.