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Northwest Ohio and Northeast Indiana Local News

West Bend News

Northwest Ohio and Northeast Indiana Local News

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Local Companies Support Caring & Sharing Food Pantry with Nearly $4,500 in Grants

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Pantry volunteers Margaret Romoser and Rita Diaz with Pantry Assistant River Rickels (center), received the grant check from Paulding Putnam Operation Round Up!

Local companies awarded about $4,500 in grants to the Caring & Sharing Food Pantry during the third quarter of 2025. The monies helped the pantry purchase furniture for its community room and contributed to the 2025 annual budget which funds operations, including the purchase of food. 

Paulding Putnam’s Operation Round Up program granted the pantry funds to buy tables and chairs for its community room. The space in the pantry is used for meetings as well as a work area for sorting food and packaging meal kits. It will eventually host educational workshops for its clients.

Operation Round Up allows members the option of rounding up their electric bills to the next dollar each month. Those extra few cents add up over time and provide funding for organizations in their communities. The pantry was one of nine recent recipients of a this generosity.

Erie Insurance not only awarded the Caring & Sharing Food Pantry a $3,000 grant, employees from Leland Smith Insurance, an Erie Insurance agency, volunteered to help the pantry, Paulding County Senior Center and Paulding County United Way distribute food from West Ohio Food Bank to county residents in August.

In addition, a grant from Erie Insurance equaled $3,000. These funds will help purchase food for the pantry to provide to Paulding County residents who are dealing with food insecurity. The pantry buys from variety of sources, including West Ohio Food Bank, Campbell Soup Employee Store, and other local resources. The prices they pay may be deeply discounted, depending on the source.

Erie is committed to investing in the communities they serve and in the lives of others. Leland Smith Insurance of Antwerp and Van Wert and Shisler Insurance of Paulding are agencies representing Erie Insurance, which is ranked #323 on the 2025 Fortune 500. 

For more information about the pantry, follow the Caring & Sharing Food Pantry on Facebook. You also can contact the pantry, at (419) 399-9562 or info@caresharepantry.org.