Allyson Forbes, 5, daughter of Dickson and Marcie Forbes of Butler, helps move food Sunday from her church, St. Peter's Episcopal church, to the church next door, Convenant United Presbyterian Church, for the Cans to the Cupboard food drive.

Although youths at St. Peter's Episcopal Church didn't walk far Sunday morning, their intentions were far-reaching.

The church school students had set aside time that morning to conclude work on Cans to the Cupboard, a food drive for the Covenant United Presbyterian Church food pantry next door.

The goal was to raise enough food items to stretch the distance between the two churches on East Jefferson Street.

"We needed 101 feet of nonperishables," said St. Peter's church school director Judy Wadding, explaining they measured out that distance in their parish hall, then lined the items end-to-end in order to track progress.

"We more than exceeded that. We went around the parish hall twice."

Despite the age range of youths in the group, Wadding said lining the hall with cans allowed even the youngest to take part. Children ages 2 to 18 participated, she said. More than 30 youths were involved in the drive, which began in November.

Wadding's granddaughter Katelyn Jones, 12, of Cabot was among the youths who helped with the drive.

"It was really fun," Katelyn said, "and I'm just glad that we could help out other families in need. ... We had to carry over as many boxes as we could carry over. It was hard for me. I broke my arm, so I only had one arm to carry with."

Although supplies are increasingly insufficient at some of the county's cupboards, Covenant coordinator David Blewett said that cupboard currently is meeting demand, probably due to community support.

"Right now, we have a good bit of food," Blewett said, explaining how businesses and individuals donate food. Eight local churches also help supplement food stores that come from government sources. As well as hosting food drives, the churches provide a workforce for hauling and unloading food.

"They're a very dedicated group of people," Blewett said.

"They send volunteers for picking up the food at the warehouse. We usually have three pickup trucks we take to the house. The volunteers sort and stock,"he said.

"The volunteers are very dependable. This wouldn't work without them."

Blewett said the cupboard serves about 350 people, which equates to about 175 famlies.