“On the calendar, Thanksgiving Day is weeks away, but here at Our Lady’s Pantry, every day is Thanksgiving,” said director Tom Bullaro, at the time on a forklift unpacking a truck while dozens of worker bees are scurrying about, sorting and storing tons of food for distribution on Saturday morning.
Bullaro, who has worked at the pantry with his wife, Anita, for 20 of the pantry’s 25 years, is looking around. He is continually astonished at the number of men and women who happily give up long hours of their day in the service of others. Week after week they work, lugging around heavy boxes of food in all kinds of weather, often starting before dawn. In the past 25 years, literally hundreds of volunteers have donated large chunks of their time to ensure that their neighbors have nutritious food to put on the tables for themselves and their families, he said.
“Our drivers bring in about 34,000 pounds of food every week,” he said. “It takes lots of time and many hands to do everything we must do, so we work almost every day of the week. Anita and I are so thankful for all our volunteers — as well as the support of this generous community. We wanted to thank everyone publicly.”
“We have been open for 25 years now,” said Bullaro, “never closing, even during COVID. We could never have done this without hundreds of volunteers working in Wimauma, and beyond. Our help comes from hundreds of individuals, countless clubs, supermarkets, and philanthropic organizations, including a stunning 64 distinct groups. Working together, you have kept our Pantry doors open for a quarter of a century.”
He added, “Due to this crushing inflation, which is affecting so many lives, we now have two groups of clients, serving an average 300 each week. We literally put food on the tables of about a thousand men, women and children every Saturday.”
“We thank everyone who has ever made a contribution to the Pantry in any way at all, with a gift of time, or treasure, or kind. It’s like the multiplication of the loaves and fishes,” he said. “All of this has been made possible because of you.”
“We couldn’t ask for a better bunch of volunteers than we have at Our Lady’s Pantry,” said Bullaro. “I am very proud to call each one my friend.”
To glimpse the different groups that have supported Our Lady’s Pantry over the past 25 years, please go to www.ourladyspantry.com/can-you-help/just-thanks/.
To donate, volunteer and learn more about Our Lady’s Pantry, visit www.ourladyspantry.com.
