Students lend helping hands

Students at Thompson Falls schools helped give back to their community this Christmas season. Last week, students at the elementary, junior high and high school campuses collected food for Community Harvest Food Bank.

At the elementary and junior high schools, students on Friday helped Principal Len Dorscher and teacher Cory Kump deliver 506 pounds to the food bank.

"This was great for our kids to do," Dorscher said. Kump added that the fourth-grade class collected the most at the elementary, with more than 120 pounds. At the high school, food was collected for families in Sanders County Coalition for Families' Adopt-A-Family program. "It's these kinds of programs that really get the holiday cheer up and running in our close-knit community," said student Gabriella Pallister at Thompson Falls High School.

Greg Murphy was one of three volunteers who met the school group at the food bank to weigh the items collected and put them on the food bank shelves. Murphy said the community is generous and the food bank is always pretty well stocked. "I've noted we get more monetary donations around the holidays," Murphy said, which helps as they have a steady flow of residents needing assistance during this time of year. He added that cans of chili seem to be the most popular, and that this year, the food bank has been running out of crackers.

Murphy said that Community Harvest Food Bank has 21 volunteers. Along with the food bank, they also run a thrift store. He said the thrift store helps pay for any overhead such as utilities.

Community Harvest Food Bank and the thrift store are located in the alley behind Community Congregational Church on Preston Avenue in Thompson Falls. The store and food bank are open Tuesdays and Thursdays from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. For more information, call 827-6333.