Food bank doles out holiday fare

Elena Gonzales and her husband, Jose, stood in a long line Monday on a Youngtown street and waited for an hour or more with hundreds of other people.

They didn’t mind.

"This is going to be the best thing for us, because we could use the money that we were going to buy (Thanksgiving) dinner and can now put it toward paying a bill," Elena Gonzales said.

On Monday, Valley View Community Food Bank distributed holiday food boxes to people who began arriving almost an hour before their doors opened. At one point, the line stretched from the food bank to near the end of the block on Nevada Avenue.

Joseph Ramirez, operations manager for the food bank, said the boxes included turkeys and fixings for a Thanksgiving meal.

More than 30 volunteers were at the food bank to help with program, which continues today.

Debbie Snyder, a culinary arts teacher at Raymond S. Kellis High School in Glendale, brought 24 of her students to help.

"I believe it’s valuable to give back to the community," she said. "With our economy and the way it is now, I feel it’s extremely important now."

Last week, Valley View Food Bank needed almost 3,500 turkeys for the program as well as its annual Thanksgiving meal at New Joy Ministries in Youngtown.

The food bank conducted a turkey drive last week and two drives over the weekend at Berean Christian Bookstore in Peoria and Shepherd of the Valley Lutheran Church in Surprise. Ramirez said the turkey goal was reached.

Exalie Guerrero, a Surprise resident, has been laid off from her job for almost a year and didn’t know how she would feed her family for Thanksgiving this year.

"I found out about this place, and I’m very grateful they were able to help me this year," she said.

Youngtown resident Celie Rosales agreed.

"I’m so happy and grateful," she said. "With my husband out of work, we need any possible help that we can get."