The vouchers were awarded Wednesday morning to Elkhart County pantries that are members in good standing of the food bank. Representatives of several of the pantries joined food bank CEO Lisa Jaworski and Grainger Corp. representatives at Nail Scarred Ministries church and pantry in Elkhart to receive the gift.

Joe Bauer, pastor of Nail Scarred, got emotional as he took the stage to say thank you.

"You have touched so many lives with this. This is so appreciated," he said, before pausing to regain his composure. "We really thank you for this."

Karen Stoltzfus of Family Christian Development Center of Nappanee elaborated on the usefulness of the donation.

"We have seen a 75 percent increase in the need for our services over the last two years. It's the community partnerships and gifts like this that make this possible," she said after receiving her voucher.

Grainger branch managers Mandy Hayes of Elkhart and Shawn Wagner of South Bend said they recognized the immediate needs of St. Joseph and Elkhart counties and responded by utilizing money made available by Grainger's charitable foundation to feed residents.

According to Hayes, the foundation allots every Grainger branch funds a yearly amount to invest in community initiatives. This year, Hayes and Wagner agreed to combine their allotment and donate it to the Food Bank of Northern Indiana, with the stipulation that it be divided among food pantries in their two counties. Elkhart pantries received a total of $10,000 and St. Joseph pantries received $10,000 as well.

Elkhart Mayor Dick Moore thanked the corporation Wednesday for its donation and said that it will aid Elkhart's efforts to recover from the recession.

"Without folks like you the job would be much more difficult. Elkhart's been able to hang in there because of the effort you've made and we thank you very much for it," Moore said.

BY THE NUMBERS

* $667 -- Amount of credit given to each pantry because of Grainger gift

* 18 cents/lb. -- Price at which the pantries can obtain donated food from the Food Bank of Northern Indiana

* 3,705.5 -- pounds of food the pantries can obtain with $667

* 2,964 -- number of meals this gift will provide to families of four

ALWAYS NEEDED

Individuals may donate food directly to the Food Bank of Northern Indiana, as well as to their local pantries. Jaime Cripe of the food bank said that foods rich in protein are particularly welcome. Foods such as tuna, hamburger, peanut butter, ravioli, macaroni and cheese, canned fruits and vegetables and cereal go a long way toward maintaining families' health.