A food pantry system that distributes emergency food supplies to the needy in Carbon County is set to commemorate a milestone.

Shepherd House Inc. will celebrate its 35th anniversary at 12:30 p.m. Saturday at the Mahoning Valley Ambulance Building, 902 Mill Road, Lehighton.

The event will consist of opening remarks and a family-style meal, according to Stanley Haupt, executive director of Shepherd House.

“We try to do it every so often because we want to honor our volunteers for what they do,” Haupt said. “We just want to honor what they do and let them know that we really appreciate the difference that they’re making for the people that they supply with the three-day supply of emergency food.”

Haupt said Shepherd House consists of nine pantries throughout the county:

• Beaver Meadows: Serves households in Packer Township, located in St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, 19 Second St., Beaver Meadows.

• Jim Thorpe: Serves households in the Jim Thorpe School District, located in Ebenezer Evangelical Congregational Church, 441 Center Ave. Jim Thorpe.

• Lansford: Serves households in Lansford, located in Trinity Lutheran Church, 104 East Abbott St., Lansford.

• Lehighton: Serves households in Lehighton, Mahoning, Franklin, East Penn townships, Weissport, and the Lehighton Area School District, including Parryville, located in Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church, 175 South Third St., Lehighton.

• Nesquehoning: Serves households in Nesquehoning, Lake Hauto, located in Meed’s Memorial United Methodist Church, 126 W. Catawissa St., Nesquehoning.

• Palmerton: Serves households in Palmerton, Towamensing Township, Lower Towamensing Township, Bowmanstown, located in St. John’s Towamensing Lutheran Church, 2915 Fireline Road, Palmerton.

• Summit Hill: Serves households in Summit Hill, located in the Summit Hill Heritage Center, 1 W. Hazard St., Summit Hill.

• Tresckow: Serves households in Banks Township, located in the Banks Township Municipal Building, Cherry and Fern streets, Tresckow.

• Weatherly: Serves households in Weatherly, Lausanne and Lehigh townships, and East Side Borough, located in the Zion’s Evangelical Lutheran Church, 335 Third St., Weatherly.

Haupt noted that Shepherd House is made up of a board consisting of representatives from each of the communities, each of which has a person who coordinates with each of the pantries.

“Before the formation of Shepherd House, a lot of these churches had pantries on their own, and they were pretty much doing it based on what kind of donations they could get from the public,” he said.

Haupt said it was important to bring all the pantries together under the Shepherd House umbrella to receive state and federal funding, which is all part of it being a 501(c) (3) organization.

He said that as of March, Shepherd House has 134 volunteers who gave 1,069 volunteer hours; provided 18,000 meals for 2,028 people; and spent $15,385 to serve 785 households.

For more information on Shepherd House, contact 610-377-6048.