Christmas in May items now available

ROCKFORD, Mich. (WOOD) - West Michigan families in need of the personal care items collected by the Christmas in May campaign should contact their local food pantries.

24 Hour News 8 wrapped up the promotion last week, collecting more than 68,000 items such as toothpaste, deodorant, laundry detergent and dish soap.

Many families who need the assistance are unsure of how to pick up these eight essential items.

"We had a lot of our clients call wondering when it was going to be distributed or how it was going to be distributed," said Deb Slot, of the North Kent Service Center, in Rockford.

The personal items have been shipped to six locations: North Kent Service Center, the Salvation Army in Grand Rapids, Community Action House in Holland, Love Inc. in Muskegon, Ministry With Community in Kalamazoo, and Byron Community Ministries in Cutlerville.

The North Kent Service Center received three 800 pound crates filled with donations. It runs a pantry at its Rockford location, but also supports five others in northern Kent County which will receive the items.

"We are the larger pantry, a lot of the churches have started smaller pantries, even the Belmont YMCA, they're our newest addition," Slot said.

Like many other pantries, North Kent requires you to fill out a needs assessment before you receive the goods.

Each of the six pantries serves a specific area that covers numerous counties and thousands of families.