Community bands together to restock food stolen from Minneapolis food pantry

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MINNEAPOLIS — Families in need of food won't go hungry this Christmas after goods stolen from a church's food pantry were restocked with abundant donations from parishioners and strangers.

Hundreds of pounds of food to be given away on Christmas Eve at the Camden Promise food bank disappeared Friday when a driver delivering the food from a staging studio to Gethsemane Lutheran Church in north Minneapolis never showed up. Rev. Jeff Nehrbass says he was heartbroken and angry that the volunteer driver would do such a thing. But, Nehrbass says his anger turned to amazement when boxes and bags of replacement food began arriving. Volunteers stocking shelves could hardly keep up with arriving donations.

Nehrbass tells the Star Tribune that single mothers, the unemployed and underemployed use the food pantry.

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press.

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