SALEM, Ohio (WYTV) — This week’s Hometown Hero is a Salem woman who has lots of mouths to feed to begin with, but because of her kind heart, she chooses to feed even more.
Amanda McBride is not your average mother. On top of caring for five children, she runs a food pantry out of her own home.
McBride says whenever she had extra stuff, she always helped family and friends and the idea really took off from there.
“Even if it’s something small, it still could help someone in the long run,” McBride says.
McBride opened the pantry up back in March. Before that, she would put together food boxes for people in need. Her pantry offers everything from food, hygiene and baby products — even sometimes offering Halloween costumes or other festive items.
“The only requirements I have is I just would like to know if there’s any allergies, family size — pretty much that’s it,” McBride said. “Anybody from any town, I will help.”
She also asks that anyone who donates to the pantry makes sure items are sealed.
She says the biggest things she needs are:
- Canned goods
- Diapers
- Formula
- Milk
McBride hopes she’s teaching her children the importance of giving back.
“Somebody always has it worse off than you, so you could think you’re going through the worst thing ever, but there’s always somebody that has something worse going on,” McBride says. “If you help other people, it’ll always come back toward you in the end.”
And she has big plans for the pantry.
“I would love eventually to become a nonprofit, but I’m going to continue to do it as long as I’m able to,” McBride says.
