Michael Mee/News-Aegis The Christian Love Pantry and the United Way Community Food Bank gave away 75 turkeys with all the trimmings to many in the area who might not otherwise have a Christmas dinner. Pictured are, from left, Christian Love Panty director Mike Carr, volunteers Mike Riley and Ted Nelms; behind them is Jerry Hart, often dubbed the “hardest working guy at the Love Pantry.” Seated is Larry Kotlik with the united Way Food Bank.

A food pantry that serves the St. Clair County area has come through to help its neighbors thanks to community support.

On Monday the Christian Love Pantry and the United Way Community Food Bank teamed up to provide 75 Christmas dinners to area residents. The line circled the block as people pulled up and received turkeys and all the trimmings.

It was a heartwarming moment for volunteers to witness area residents smiling so brightly as they received their early Christmas gifts.

This was the first time the Love Pantry and the United Way’s Food Bank have partnered on such a large event at Christmas. This event was put together under the coordination of Cheryl Riley, one of the many Love Pantry volunteers.

The Love Pantry teamed up with the United Way Food Bank in Birmingham earlier this year because it was able to provide a better price-per-pound for items that the Christian outreach service buys on a regular basis.

“We save somewhere between $1,000 and $1,300 dollars each time we go down there. So, it’s a huge cost savings for us to go to there to get food for our clients,” Christian Love Pantry Director Mike Carr said.

After the United Way’s Food Bank provided 50 turkeys through the Love Pantry at Thanksgiving, it offered to give that many and an additional 25 more for Christmas.

“I think we gave away 53 boxes in just about an hour,” Carr said happily. “We usually try to do something special around this time of year; but nothing to this extent. Luckily, we could do this and we are so thankful to the United Way for what they’ve done for the community.”

The Love Pantry’s need for assistance is up 15 percent from this time last year. That is around the same increase it saw from 2007 to 2008.

Carr said that it is community support has been the key to the Love Pantry keeping its cost-to-need ratio on an even keel.

Other factors for the outreach to keep on doing so well helping others in need include having the person buying the groceries each month go ahead and buy things that are on sale when they reach the store that the Love Pantry uses to buy items.

“If we see an item that is on sale one month, we try to buy a six-month supply to help curb costs. So, we’ve changed our buying habits to keep up with demand,” Carr explained.

He said that one of the biggest contributors to the food pantry’s cupboards–people who live here in St. Clair County–are the ones who truly embody what the program is about.

Food drives have been up and costs are down for the Love Pantry in 2009.

“It’s a testament to the community what we’ve seen in our ability to keep our costs within our budgets,” Carr said. “We have people who come through our doors–be them individuals or churches or other groups–who bring us tons of food for our clients. They have helped us to keep our costs where they need to be at a time when we’ve seen an increase over last year and the need continues to grow from what we’ve seen.”

Last year the Love Pantry was at a critical point. Its supplies were depleted and money was not coming in like it had in the past.

“We were wondering if we could make it until the end of the year,” Carr said.

He commented on what has changed in just over a year. “The community responded in what I would only categorize as a miraculous fashion. It’s been a good year. Donations are up and that’s wonderful.”