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According to the 2018 Counties At-A-Glance report put together by Nebraska’s Legislative Research Office, 12% of our 6,421 individuals in Antelope County are food insecure. Food insecurity is described by Feeding America as “a household’s inability to provide enough food for every person to live an active, healthy life.” This means approximately 771 people in our county do not have regular access to food. While these are staggering numbers, I would like to discuss one of many ways we can help our neighbors in need.

Help fight hunger this year by growing an extra row of produce in your garden and donating the harvest to the Antelope County Food Pantry. The Antelope County Extension Office received grant funding from the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services to assist our community in providing food insecure households with nutritious fresh produce. Fresh produce can be a bit more expensive to purchase; therefore, potentially making it more difficult for families with limited resources to purchase. Fresh produce helps add much needed nutrition, color and additional flavor to meals. Plus, nothing quite beats a fresh tomato straight from the garden. Would you agree?

With this funding we will be able to support your growing efforts, purchase a refrigerator to store donated produce until distribution to households and provide food, nutrition, and health education to our community members and pantry clientele.

Under Typical Circumstances:

Produce donations can be dropped off between 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, at the Antelope County Extension Office located in the basement of the Antelope County Courthouse. From there, donated produce will be taken to the Antelope County Food Pantry for redistribution to food pantry clientele. Various produce, ranging from asparagus, potatoes, apples, pears, squash, beans, watermelon, etc., is more than welcome for donation.

Since the Antelope County Food Pantry is only open to clientele every other week, we ask that if you are donating highly perishable products, such as lettuce, herbs, tomatoes, etc., that you bring the produce the same week the food pantry will be open. This will help keep food waste to a minimum.

The Antelope County Food Pantry is run by dedicated volunteers and is typically open the first and third Thursdays of the month from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., at the Lions Club in Neligh. If you are interested in volunteering at the Antelope County Food Pantry, contact Bev Alderson at (402) 843-5307.

Under Current COVID-19 Circumstances:

Due to COVID-19 precautions, the Antelope County Food Pantry is closed for the month of April and will not be accepting donations during this time. While we all do our part to help flatten the curve of COVID-19, the situation will be continually monitored in the hopes the pantry can be reopened sooner rather than later. Once there is a change in the food pantry’s availability status, you will be notified.

In the meantime, contact the Antelope County Extension Office at (402) 887-5414 to learn more about the Grow-A-Row project.