Food pantry gets donation from Spriggs

Published 10:07 am Tuesday, March 1, 2016

The Harvest for the Hungry food pantry got a sizable boost of support on Monday.

Nick Williams, the general manger of the Spriggs Distributing Company, dropped by to present a donation from the Guy Spriggs Charitable Trust.

The trust, run by Spriggs, an Ironton native now residing in South Carolina, is the charitable arm of the beverage company, which operates in 15 counties across 35 states.

Email newsletter signup

The trust will also pay a visit this week to a community kitchen and a Salvation Army in Ashland. It has made donations to several regional charities, including the City Mission in Ironton. Williams said it’s a way to repay the local community for the support they have shown the company.

“He puts the money in this community, where he grew up, and where his business is located,” Williams said.

While the exact figure of the donation was not disclosed, Harvest director Diane Porter said it was “a generous amount,” and would be used to purchase food.

The pantry, located on North Fifth Street is an effort on part of several downtown churches, spearheaded by the First United Methodist Church, to distribute food to the needy. The organization fed 18,288 people in 2015, director Diane Porter said, including 5,797 families, 2,312 seniors (640 of whom had minors in their household), 6,203 children and 9,773 adults.

“They do fantastic stuff here, and that’s why Mr. Spriggs is making the donation he is making,” Williams said.