Photo: CANS And the crowd-created team, Hook ‘Em Horns, get ready to take off from the starting line
Sixteen teams battled it out in the aisles of West Street Market in Manning Tuesday afternoon in their effort to take home a first-place trophy, while also helping others take home food from the Manning Food Pantry. The Manning Rotary held their first ever Pack the Pantry event after seeing the success of the Carroll Lions Club Grocery Grab in June. Organizer, Kara Stadtlander, says they thought it was a great way for a community to come together to support each other. Mary Tuel, who works for Carroll Area Nursing Service, says they decided to join in as a way to give something back.
Each of these teams was given five minutes to run the aisles and fill their carts with items for the food pantry. The goal, was to get as close to $250 as possible without going over. There was a lot of good-natured competition and fun, and even though the West Street Market team was razzed for having an advantage, team member Veronica King says they were all really focused on the need in their service area.
The competition ended with a twist due to the odd number of teams that had originally signed up to participate. The crowd was asked to put some money together and form a team to go head-to-head in the final match of the afternoon. Ron Reischl generously offered to put up the $250 for a hand-selected team of ladies from the community, including a key volunteer with the Manning Food Pantry, Mindi Boyle. Altogether, nearly $4,000 in food and supplies was gathered for the pantry, who hosted an open house in appreciation after the event. And, that coveted trophy went home with the team from Ohde Funeral Home, who tallied an impressive receipt of $249.95. The Manning Food Pantry services are available to individuals and families from any of the communities within the IKM-Manning Community School District. Contact details to gather more information from the pantry can be found below.
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Manning Food Pantry 318 Main Street, Suite B, Manning (use alley entrance)
For more information, call 712-792-9266 ext. 720 or log on to www.newopp.org
