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Headnote

Area Jews provide cornucopia for the hungry

On Yom Kippur, a day synonymous with material deprivation, area Jews helped alleviate the burden of thousands of families who are deprived year-round.

They accomplished this by contributing more than 20 tons of groceries to local food banks during the annual High Holiday food drive, a longstanding tradition involving synagogues and other Jewish institutions.

The leading recipient of this largesse was Rockville's Manna Food Center, which collected 43,949 pounds of food from about 20 local congregations, roughly the same haul as last year. That amount will feed about 1,200-1,300 hungry families for three to five days, according to Amy Gabala, Manna's executive director.

"It's a remarkable outpouring of compassion for people who need help in our community," she said. "This is an incredibly caring community. I get the sense that this comes from people's hearts, not because they have to do it, but because they really want to."

Gabala, like other area food bank representatives, said the Yom Kippur drive is especially important because it replenishes food reserves that have become seriously depleted by early fall. Although food banks receive contributions year-round, the bulk of their stock is supplied the previous late fall and winter and spring.

"By the end of August, there's almost nothing left on the shelves," said Gabala.

"Late summer and early fall are the leanest seasons in our food warehouse," added...