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N.D. (NewsDakota.com) – The Great Plains Food Bank has named the Gackle Area Community Food Pantry as its 2016 Agency of the Year.

Spokesman Jared Slinde said it’s the highest honor given annually to one of the Great Plains Food Bank’s 215 partner agencies.

Housed entirely inside the Gackle Fire Department facility, the Gackle Area Community Food Pantry is community driven and could not function without local support from food drives, donations and volunteers. They serve an average of 125 individuals and distribute 1.34 tons of food each month, according to the press release.

The Gackle organization’s service extends to the local school where for the past three years elementary students have opted to host food drives around the holidays instead of exchanging gifts between students.

The friendly competition between classes yields more than 600 pounds of food for the pantry each year.