on 11-20-2008 22:20

JAMES PIERCE/GDH
Oklahoma Food Bank driver Dale Sanders unloading a shipment of food for Loaves and Fishes on Wednesday Nov. 19.  Volunteers from the Next Step Network and the Sheltered Workshop came by to help unload.  Fifty-two families received food on Tuesday, a 15 percent increase from last Thursday.  

By James Pierce
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Volunteers from different groups and agencies around Guymon stepped in to help unload this weeks shipment from the Oklahoma Food Bank to Loaves and Fishes in Guymon. 
On Tuesday, Loaves and Fishes fed 52 families from around the area, eight more than the previous week.  Lynette Taylor who is responsible for supervising the unloading and ordering of the food for Loaves and Fishes said, "we are here to help those who are in need of help and ask for it."
They are open on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and they are staffed by volunteers from 26 different churches. 
Loaves and Fishes moved into their new building in June and July that was completely funded by grants but it is run primarily on donations from churches, organizations, memorials and service groups who donate food and money to keep it running.  On Sunday the Junior High delivered food that was collected through a competition between classes and last week Straight School delivered 900lbs of donated food.
Taylor says, "we could always use more donations to help with the increase in families we serve."
The Oklahoma Food Bank truck use to come through just once a month but with the increase in demand, the truck has been making two deliveries a month.  Their driver for this region, Dale Sanders, has been delivering for the food back for seven years and says, "there are a lot of hungry people in this state and we try to take care of Oklahoma."
The Oklahoma Food Bank also delivers food for the Mexican Baptist Church, YMCA, Senior Citizens, Next Step Network, Domestic Crisis Center and the Oakes of the Mamre, serving 53 of the 77 counties in Oklahoma.