December 21, 2018 at 4:04 p.m.
Ruby's Pantry distributes gifts to local organizations
Ruby's Pantry distributes gifts to local organizations
By Kayla Thomason-
Santa handed out candy canes and gifts to children at the event.
"I'm here every year, come down from the North Pole for it," the red-suited man said.
Adding to the holiday vibe, four nonprofits received $500 each from Ruby's benevolence fund. The organizations were Kids Impacting our Neighborhood, Association of Churches for Emergency Support, New Dawn Pregnancy Center and the Elcho Food Pantry.
Ruby's Pantry is a nonprofit organization committed to helping those in need. Anyone is able to utilize their services with a $20 donation. Of the $20, $2 goes to the benevolence fund which helps cover operational costs and is used for donations to other organizations.
Ruby's in Rhinelander gave out 340 shares in December. According to Tracey Barnes, volunteer/PR coordinator for Ruby's Pantry, the numbers have been increasing over the past few months and they often have over 100 volunteers for each distribution day.
"I think (Ruby's is) extremely important and you can look around and see the amount of guests coming through and it's pretty self-explanatory that it's a necessity and it's month after month and year after year," she said.
Ellen Eisenbard is thankful for Ruby's Pantry.
"I think it's awesome, I really do," she said. "I don't care how far you've got to travel, it's well worth it."
While the food doesn't last a month, it is very much appreciated by those who use their services, she noted.
"We try to get here every month," Eisenbard said. "It's good once a month. I mean it's not a month's worth of food or anything but it helps very much."
She noted that she liked seeing Santa at the event and his greetings to those in line.
"I was surprised, I was actually very surprised, it's very cute, put a smile on my face right away," she said of Santa's visit.
Ruby's Pantry is held the third Tuesday of every month from 4 to 6 p.m. at the Rhinelander Armory.
Founded in 2003, Ruby's now includes 66 pop-up pantries serving over 440,000 people each year and distributes over 16,000,000 pounds of food.
Kayla Thomason may be reached at [email protected].
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