Thanks to the community’s response to Sunday’s emergency plea, Eagle’s Wings Food Pantry was able to meet the needs of 122 local families Tuesday.

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By the time the pantry shut its doors at 6 p.m., 107 families had picked up food and 17 homebound families had received deliveries.
“We want to thank everyone from the bottom of our hearts for their generosity,” said Executive Director Sally Love.
The donations will be enough to carry the pantry through to its next Albemarle Food Bank delivery in two weeks.
“A miracle happened yesterday when more than 7,000 pounds of food as well as many cash donations came to Eagle’s Wings from our generous friends in Beaufort County,” Love said. “We just had a constant stream of people here from nine in the morning to six at night. It was an amazing day.”
In addition to individual monetary and food donations, many local churches appealed to congregations Sunday and brought in sizable donations Monday.
“And truly, we could not have opened the doors if people hadn’t been so generous. It was not enough to feed them,” Love said.
Eagle’s Wings Food Pantry received more good news this week. The pantry was awarded a $450 grant from the North Carolina Community Foundation Disaster Relief Fund, a component fund of the North Carolina Community Foundation.
The funds will be used to support the Mobile Food Pantry in Aurora, which provides about 40 pounds of food and fresh produce on the fourth Saturday of each month at Snowden Elementary School.
The food pantry’s emergency may have subsided for a few weeks, but Love said the shortage is an ongoing problem.
“We get 30 to 40 new clients every month. So the demand increases. The supply does not,” she said.
The number of Beaufort County families in need of assistance has increased since last year by 61 percent, she added. Tuesday saw a higher-than-average crowd, as well.
“If we could think about getting people donating every month, it would be very helpful,” Love said. “Our hope is that the community will continue to support us on an ongoing basis so that we can continue to help those in need.”
Food and monetary donations may be dropped off at Eagle’s Wings, 923 W. Third St., Washington, Monday through Friday, from 9:30 a.m. to 11 a.m. Monetary donations may be made online at http://www.eagles-wings.org/donations.html. For more information, call 975-1138.