A donation by Tomah Health staff and providers made this holiday a bit merrier for Tomah’s Neighbor for Neighbor Food Pantry.
Tomah Health marketing & public relations director Eric Prise said a $3,250 donation to the pantry is from hospital staff who had the opportunity to accept a gift card from the hospital as a holiday gift or donate the value of the item.
Prise said that over the last 13 years the organization has made the donation, which has totaled more than $30,000 to the local pantry.
Food Pantry executive director Dawn Pleuss said the donation is vital to daily operations for the pantry at 1118 W. Veterans St., Tomah. “We are going to use our money towards our operational expenses like our gas and electric and doing a lot of pickups with our trucks,” said Pleuss. “We are super grateful for the community that we live in, and everybody that gives us this great gift of money.”
Pleuss said while food donations typically decrease following the holidays, the number of people visiting the facility continues to increase. “There’s a lot of people that are just struggling right now and that’s what we’re here for to help out a little bit. We have people that do need us more than once a month lately.”
She said last month 646 households were served at the facility.