Hurricane Irene left her mark at a local food pantry this past weekend. But, according to Linda Fosbenner, a volunteer at the Zionsville Area Food Pantry, operations will continue without interruption.

“This is a manageable inconvenience,” she said.

The pantry will stay on its normal schedule. A plan has already been worked out to keep things running smoothly so that people can get the food they need. Currently, the 85 families—290 people—the pantry serves each month are from Upper Milford Township, Hereford, Alburtis, Macungie and Emmaus. 

Monday afternoon church members came out to help with the clean up as word got out of the damage. Fosbenner’s husband, Roger, arrived with a generator, since the power at their home had been restored. Another church member came with a wet/dry vac to begin getting the water out of the carpet. 

Earlier in the day, partially frozen food was taken to the Allentown Rescue Mission and the 6^th Street Shelter.

“No food was damaged,” said Linda. “Probably what saved the food was the prep work done Saturday morning, by moving everything up from off the floor.”

The carpet in the food pantry is the primary issue at this point. Everything must be removed from the room. The entire floor, walls, cabinets and shelving must cleaned thoroughly before replacing the flooring, and bringing the food back into the room. 

Costs of the cleanup can not be determined at this time.

The Rev. Martin Milne, pastor of Zion’s Lutheran Church, where the food pantry is located, said the community can help the food pantry deal with the impact of Irene with monetary donations or contributions of non-perishable food items. 

“But my main concern is for neighbors to help each other at this time,” he said. “Especially since this area is still without power. We can function here and clean this up, but there are others in greater need of assistance.”