Radio stations collect pasta for food banks

BANGOR – The holiday season may be over, but many Mainers still depend on the generosity of others to eat this winter.

That’s why four local radio stations teamed up Saturday to collect more than three tons of pasta that will be distributed to local food pantries. It marked the third year Cumulus Broadcasting has held the event at local supermarkets in Bangor, Brewer, Old Town and Ellsworth.

Why pasta? Because it’s nutritious, versatile and one 50-cent box can feed a family of four, Dorian Daniels, a disc jockey for 92.9 WEZQ, said Saturday while collecting food in Bangor. With heating bills jumping this year, many people on fixed incomes find themselves in need of help, she said.

“They’re caught between a rock and a hard place,” Daniels said.

At Manna Ministries on Main Street, the number of people in need of groceries has doubled from last year, executive director Bill Rae said Saturday. While the cost of living has gone up, incomes have not, he said.

“The soup kitchen is standing-room-only every night,” he said, as exiting shoppers dropped off boxes of pasta and jars of spaghetti sauce.

The food was distributed to more than 30 food pantries to feed hungry families throughout the region, Rae said. With Thanksgiving and Christmas having passed, the pasta will help to alleviate a dip in donations typical of this time of year, Rae said.

“We forget our neighbors need food for the rest of the year,” he said.