When Katie Shellenberger was a youngster, she took canned goods to school for annual food drives.

“I always took beets because I loved them and thought the kids that needed help would, too,” she recalled.

Now 38, she is receiving help from pantries affiliated with Care and Share Food Bank for Southern Colorado.

She found herself struggling after separation from a spouse, and health problems prevented full-time work. Besides her two children, she sometimes has five others to feed when she cares for a relative’s children.

“It’s been hard. I often went without so the kids would have what they need.”

Her plight greatly improved after a friend invited her on a shopping trip to a food pantry. She also received referrals for other services, including health care needs.

Care and Share’s mission is to create a hunger-free southern Colorado, said Lynne Telford, president and CEO.

In the food bank’s service area, 1 in 8 people are food insecure, and 1 in 6 children are at risk of going hungry, she said.

“Food is basic; without it, a person can’t think about anything else such as work or school,” Telford said.

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The agency had its beginning in 1972 when the organization’s founder, Franciscan Sister Dominique Piscotta, began distributing food baskets. As the effort grew, volunteers’ basements served as distribution points. Today, there are distribution centers in Colorado Springs and Pueblo.

Last fiscal year, 24.7 million pounds of food was distributed to 276 partner agencies including pantries and shelters. Care and Share’s truck fleet traveled 256,000 miles delivering food to 31 counties that make up the 52,000-square-mile distribution area.

Supplies come from many sources such as growers, manufacturers, retailers, food drives and monetary donations. For example, Care and Share recently began partnering with 34 free-standing Starbucks stores to receive unused food.

Monetary donations to the agency are vital.

“Say we get 40,000 pounds of items from General Mills. We have to pay the transportation to get it here,” Telford explained. A dollar donation translates into eight meals.

All these provisions combined for 20 million meals for the hungry last fiscal year. More than 50,337 volunteer hours got the job done.

The food bank also partners with community agencies on many food-related projects such as delivering thousands of weekend backpacks of food for low-income students and setting up mobile pantries in summer when regular school free lunches aren’t available. The agency also aids in disaster relief.

Shellenberger took a six-week class sponsored by Care and Share and Cooking Matters Colorado.

The program teaches participants how to shop for and cook tasty, nutritious meals from food received from pantries and SNAP (food stamps).

She even learned how to cut vegetables like a chef. At the end of the program, she and other participants each received a chef’s knife, cutting board and recipe book of low-cost creations.

“I can really rock that knife,” she said, laughing.

Her kids love the turkey tacos recipe. “You add shredded carrots to the meat. It makes it go further, and the kids get their vegetables,” Shellenberger said.

Another trick she learned is to use nutritious Greek yogurt instead of sour cream. “My 6-year-old daughter loves that, and I know she is getting good nutrition that way.” There are also delicious fudge brownies made with protein- heavy garbanzo beans.

The program has nourished Shellenberger in another important way.

“I was surprised by the generosity of the people at Care and Share and how much they give,” she said. “The volunteers at the pantries don’t make you feel awful for needing help and never look down at you.”

“Food is basic; without it, a person can’t think about anything else such as work or school.” Lynne Telford, president and CEO of Care and Share Food Bank

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