Breaking bread together

DAYTON - Pam Trube spends an awful lot of time shopping. She goes to Smith's Market in Dayton and Albertsons Market in Carson City several times a week.

And she only gets baked goods.

Trube can be found at Smith's Market every Tuesday through Saturday and at Albertsons Thursday through Sunday.

Why? She's the main force behind a Dayton bread bank. She goes to the supermarkets to retrieve day-old breads, cookies, cakes and other baked goods donated by the stores, then takes them to the Dayton Community Center on Pike Street, where she fills up the refrigerators and freezers.

"I get from a half-cart to two cart-fulls from each store," the Dayton resident said.

Then from 9-10 a.m. every Saturday, the Dayton Community Center distributes the free goodies to 15 to 25 low-income Dayton families. Also, once a month, usually on the third Thursday, the Lyon County Food Bank is held at the center and the baked goods go to between 60 and 80 people.

"I started off as a customer and started doing it part-time four years ago," Trube said. "Now I'm running it."

Trube, a homemaker who has cerebral palsy, said her children - daughter Desirae, 21, and sons Anthony, 19, and Devon, 16 - help collect the donations.

"People are really good," she said. "My kids and the people at the community center help me by carrying stuff in for me. They're really nice."

Trube said the bread bank means a lot to those it helps, primarily families with young children who can't afford sweets or special items.

"I think it's very important," she said. "It's not necessarily nutritious because it's desserts, but often it's things people really cannot afford like birthday cakes."

Jannette Hoffert, Central Lyon County Parks director, offered an example.

"There was a lady with a couple of kids and her husband had left her," she said. "They had no money and they were actually living on what they got from the bread bank."

Hoffert praised Trube and those who help her for their dedication to the bread bank.

"The volunteers pick the stuff up on their own time, they get it ready and they hand it out on their own time," Hoffert said. "It's all done entirely with volunteers."

Trube said the bread bank has given her a lot, too.

"I like helping people," she said. "I've become friends with a lot of people. I was raised around here and it makes me feel good helping people out."

If you go

WHAT: Dayton Bread Bank

WHEN: 9-10 a.m. Saturdays

WHERE: Dayton Community Center, 170 Pike St.

CALL: 246-0320

- Contact reporter Karen Woodmansee at kwoodmansee@nevadaappeal.com or 882-2111 ext. 351.