With Christmas just four weeks away, the Sanborn County Courthouse employees are busy making lists and gathering food for the Christmas boxes that they prepare and deliver to needy families in Sanborn County. This is an annual project that has been sponsored by the Sanborn County Food Pantry for 30 years.
Approximately 106 boxes are filled with food traditionally served at Christmas, such as turkey, stuffing, potatoes, cranberries, vegetables and fruit, pie mix, and additional items to add to the family pantry, such as peanut butter, tuna, cereal and pudding. The cost per box is approximately $70, with $40 of that provided by the Food Pantry, and the rest from private donations and grant money from the South Dakota Rural Office of Community Services at Lake Andes, if it is available.
Courthouse employee Tom Carda is in charge of organizing the boxes and enlists the help of junior high classes at Woonsocket School, who take an hour and a half of class time to help pack them. The boxes are delivered on Dec. 20, which can be quite a challenge with families scattered around the county, so the committee is especially grateful to the employees of SD Wheat Growers and the Sanborn County Highway Department, as well as community volunteers in Letcher, Artesian, Forestburg and Woonsocket, who assist with deliveries.
Each year, the Food Pantry Committee compiles a list of those in need of the Christmas boxes from sources in the county. They are grateful for any donations, including food and monetary. If anyone has questions or needs additional information, contact the Food Pantry co-chairpersons at the courthouse: Tom Carda, Diane Larson (796-4513) or Lynn Brueske (796-4516).

…See pictures in this week’s issue of the Sanborn Weekly Journal.