MINONK -- For Clara Fewell, a simple decision to lend a hand at the food pantry became a lifestyle that lasted nearly 25 years.

Early on, she helped as needed. By the end, however, she was coordinator and drove users to doctors' appointments.

She retired this spring, turning over the job to Esther Gauger.

Fewell remembers many stories while she was at Minonk Township Food Pantry.

"One time after a big Christmas food drive, we sorted boxes and boxes of canned vegetables," she said. "When it was all over, with we had 22 boxes of green beans, 11 boxes of corn and 11 of peas. We didn't have to buy green beans for the next five years."

The work was rewarding because she got to see and get to know the people who benefited from the food pantry.

"There were many who didn't have a lot of money coming in," she said. "After rent, doctor bills and medicine, there wasn't anything left to buy groceries. Without the food pantry, many people would have gone hungry."

Volunteers and other members of the community surprised her with a lunch to honor her years of service and celebrate her retirement.

The best advice she can give to food pantry volunteers is to go into it with a good sense of humor. "Hurried prayer also works really well," she said, laughing. "I did a lot of that."