Food pantries could close for lack of volunteers

Colfax pantry volunteers Monica Hardie (left) and Gail McNeilly (right) sort through inventory at the pantry recently.

Every month, pantries around Whitman County distribute 45,000 pounds of food to more than 800 families which total about 2,000 people. This service happens once a month in most of the rural communities of the county and twice a month in Colfax.

And it may be on the verge of disappearing.

“That really could be a reality, losing the pantries,” said Paige Collins, executive director at the Council on Aging in Colfax.

Collins said she is worried for the future of Whitman County fo...