Food Pantry Desperate for Donations

A Riverside County nonprofit that serves thousands of meals to the area's needy every year is desperate for donations to keep its food box program going, its president said this week.

The Temecula-Murrieta Rescue Mission, which distributes boxes of canned goods and other edibles to 200 families every week, has run low on supplies.

"This food box program is essential to many families in the Temecula and Murrieta communities who are having trouble making ends meet, and rely on the food boxes to feed their families,'' said Jim Palmer, president of the rescue mission. "In order to continue this important program, we need the community to come together and donate food items, especially those specific items for which we have an urgent need,'' he said.

Rescue mission representatives said that last year, the nonprofit provided 478,000 meals to the homeless and impoverished in the southwestern county region.

According to Palmer, all donations are welcome, particularly peanut butter, cereal, canned fruits and pasta. Non-perishable items can be dropped in designated bins at Rancho Community Church, 31300 Rancho Community Way in Temecula.

Monetary donations can be made via the mission's website by clicking here. Palmer said the charity is also in need of a new storage facility, and anyone with suggestions or space to lease was asked to call 951-526-1200.

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