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Article published Dec 16, 2008 Empty Pantry Fund exceeds $80,000 as packing day nears
By Linda Braden Albert of The Daily Times Staff
The countdown is on: Empty Pantry Fund packing day will be held Thursday and the food baskets will be delivered to less-fortunate Blount County residents on Sunday.
Collections for the annual fund, which was started in 1952 thanks to the Maryville-Alcoa Jaycees and The Daily Times, will provide enough food to last a family of four for over a week. Volunteers will deliver 1,424 baskets Sunday, right to the recipients' doors. Toys provided through the Junior Service League's Toys for Blount County will be delivered in conjunction with Empty Pantry Fund baskets.
Packing will officially begin at 7 p.m. Thursday at the Tennessee Army National Guard Armory on West Lamar Alexander Parkway, although volunteers begin arriving as early as 6 p.m. Deliveries officially begin at 7 a.m. Sunday.
Paul Bales has chaired the fund for over 50 years.
Donations, which are tax-deductible, will be accepted through the end of the year. Any funds remaining after all bills are paid are put into an interest-bearing account with the Blount Chamber Foundation.Donations to date include:
Balance forward, $75,867.98
Bill and Alice Marie McClanahan, $100
In honor of our cats by Kathryn and Jim Twyford, $50
Joe Ingram, $500
Anonymous, $100
In memory of Jayson Swaney by Jill Cable, $50
In memory of Marvin Roulette by Carolyn LeQuire, $25
Freeman and Shirley Buckner, $100
David and Susan Hurst, $100
Terry and Linda Weltman, $50
Libby and Russell Nellis, $250
Harry and Mary Whitehead, $50
William and Carlene Morton, $100
In memory of J.E. Bales by Bob and Sue Sherlin, $50
Martha and Jim Porter, $150
In memory of my parents, Bill and Gladys Armstrong, by daughter, $50
Anonymous, $200
T.J. and Evelyn White and Sandra White West by Sheron McGill, $50
In honor Beth and Worley Fain by Jeanne Redwine, $100
In memory of Ruth and Howard Stephens by Ruth and Dural Howard, $50
In loving memory of Joseph Hendrix by Troy and Jan Hendrix, $200
Anonymous, $50
Bart and Pamela McNealy, $50
Andrew and Laura Davidson, $50
Dorothy and James Rogers, $370
Stewart and Janice Taylor, $100
Ralph and Ann Burns, $25
Hugh and Launa Hamil, $50
Anonymous, $10
Robert and Diane Brandsborg, $50
In loving memory of Ruby and Howard Hord by Marilyn Hicks, $25
Iver H. and Ina C. Moredock, $25
Gary and Janice Wade, $100
In honor of Mason and Lucas by Peggy and Troy Wells, $25
The Scarlet Ravens of Red Hat Society, $50
In memory of Tom and Jane Reed by Charlie and Linda Rogers, $50
Joe and Sue Jenkins, $75
Anonymous, $25
In memory of Steve Dexter by Ann L. Dexter, $150
In loving memory of our parents, Hugh and Bertha Walker and Ralph and Odessa Cox, by Earl and Barbara Whaley, $100
In honor of our grandchildren, Grace and Zack, by Charlie and Doris Gardner, $100
Sandra G. Vaughn, $20
First Cumberland Presbyterian Character Builder Sunday School Class, $250
In honor of my parents, Tom and Elizabeth Lajeunesse by Mary Lou Campbell, $500
Happy birthday, Bob, from Dottie, $100
Lady Vols fans, Ann, Joann, Janie, Judy and Dottie, $125
In honor of Harrison and Mac by Bob and Dottie, $100