The Trenton Food Pantry: 'Ain't No Mickey Mouse Operation'
For the last 40 years, volunteers from around Downriver have made the Trenton Food Pantry a welcoming, helpful place for needy Trenton families.
Each month, a man with a weak handshake and a slow, awkward gate shuffles through the faded, brown doors of the Trenton Food Pantry. Volunteers have affectionately dubbed him "Chia Pet," because he recently grew his hair back after finishing a long round of chemotherapy treatments that left him bald and thin. Now, as he checks in with pantry staff, his hair is shoulder-length and he has a full beard that reaches down to the collar of his t-shirt. "Chia Pet’s" real name is Tom Collier, and for Collier the food pantry is a necessary monthly stop. He is currently in his fourth bout with cancer and his body is too weak and fragile to keep a job. Over the last 37 years, Carole Tarnowski has used the Trenton Food Pantry to feed thousands of …
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