A $100,000 contribution fund to provide immediate grants to pantries located in and serving Carbon County has been secured from an anonymous donor.

Sharon Alexander, president & CEO, Carbon County Community Foundation, announced on Monday that the organization secured the contribution to the fund, and will be making immediate distributions to its area food pantries to help them restock their shelves.

“They’ve all been really excited,” said Alexander, who noted that they started having these conversations last week. “I was in conversations with the community foundations in our surrounding counties and we were comparing notes on what we were all seeing and doing in our respective counties with emergency funding for food pantries, and based on those conversations, I went to our board and said we should be starting the Feeding Our Neighbors Fund.”

Alexander noted that they put it out there to their fundholders that already have established donor advised funds with the foundation, as well as to the general public letting them know they can contribute to the fund.

“I got a call (Monday) from someone who wants to remains anonymous, really wanted to give back so it just worked out perfectly that we were also doing this fund,” she said. “That will go out immediately.”

Alexander noted that they have 14 food pantries, and will be giving a $7,000 contribution to each one.

“I’m grateful to our board of directors and to our (supporters) to help us move so quickly to get this started,” said Alexander, who said they started having this conversation on Friday, launched it on Saturday, “and due to the generosity and forward thinking of our board and the community,” it has become a reality.

Alexander added that it’s there for people to contribute to, and for people looking for food assistance, there is a list of food pantries is on their website, and also to check the Second Harvest website.

She said that with the temporary halt of SNAP benefits due to the federal government shutdowns and the lack of a Pennsylvania state budget, local food pantries are seeing increased demand.

To help families in need, Alexander said they established the Feeding Our Neighbors Fund.

She said they launched the fund with a $5,000 contribution from their fund for Carbon County, and now, they’re inviting the community to join them in growing this fund.

Once SNAP benefits are reinstated, Alexander said the Feeding Our Neighbors Fund will transition into a permanent fund to provide ongoing support for food pantries and to address food insecurity in Carbon County.

The complete list of food pantries in Carbon County is as follows:

• Beaver Meadows Food Pantry (19-23 2nd St., Beaver Meadows)

• Common Grounds Food Pantry (121 Berwick St., Beaver Meadows)

• Jim Thorpe Food Pantry (108 Fern St, Jim Thorpe)

• Lansford Food Pantry (104 E. Abbott St., Lansford)

• Lehighton Trinity Food Pantry (1775 S. 3rd St., Lehighton)

• Nesquehoning Food Pantry (126 W. Catawissa St., Nesquehoning)

• Palmerton CACPAC Food Pantry (2915 Fireline Road, Palmerton)

• Panther Valley Community Center Food Pantry (47 W. Ridge St., Lansford)

• Panther Valley Community Food Pantry (1 N. Mermon St., Lansford)

• St. Peter’s Community Resource Center (177 Main Rd., Lehighton)

• Summit Hill Food Pantry (1 W. Hazard St., Summit Hill)

• Tresckow Food Pantry (1 E. Maple St., Tresckow)

• Weatherly Food Pantry (335 Third St., Weatherly)

• Zion Delly Berger Food Pantry (225 Iron St., Lehighton)

Food pantry information sourced from Second Harvest Food Bank of Lehigh Valley & NEPA and Shepherd House Inc.

Anyone who is associated with a food pantry that is located in Carbon County and not included on this list, is encouraged to contact them.

More information about the fund may be found at https://cccfoundpa.org/feeding-our-neighbors-fund/

For other giving options, contact the Carbon County Community Foundation at 1-855-545-1311 or info@cccfoundpa.org.