DALLAS (KRLD) - Minnie's Food Pantry lost power yesterday morning when a driver hit an electric pole, causing several others to fall and knocking out power to the area of Parker Road and Independence.
"We're thankful that driver who was stuck in the live wire for an hour and a half is okay," says Cheryl Jackson, owner of Minnie's. "We're also grateful that yesterday was the day of the week that we're closed, so none of our volunteers were there."
However, it took until yesterday afternoon for power to be restored. By then, the damage was done."We threw away 288 gallons of milk," says Jackson. "We threw away cheese and eggs. If you put a value on it, we lost about $15,000 to $20,000 worth of food."
For the several hundred people or families coming in today, Minnie's is doubling up on their donations of canned or nonperishable items. However, Jackson says it's a bit harder with kids out of school and at home needing meals.
"The people are very grateful, but for instance, we give away cereal. So today we don't have milk to give them along with the cereal."
Jackson says they've already received several welcome donations, but thinks it might take a week or two before they're as fully stocked as they were yesterday. People can visit Minnie's Food Pantry website and donate money, or stop by in person with donations of food.
