Food Bank faces holiday shortages

It’s been a rough year in the local economy, but few non-profits are feeling the pinch quite like the Greater Baton Rouge Food Bank. The shelves are virtually bare this holiday season at the community pantry, whose mission is to feed the city’s most impoverished families and individuals. It’s the emptiest the shelves have been in years, Food Bank CEO Michael Manning said recently. Even a shot in the arm of 1,600 pounds of donated food at Baton Rouge’s inaugural Halloween Parade wasn’t nearly enough to fully stock the shelve for the holidays. The Food Bank needs non-perishable food items such as canned vegetables, soups, dried beans, flour, peanut butter, pasta and breakfast cereal. Visit brfoodbank.org. The site also provides tips and information on how you can host a food drive.