Food pantries stare down volunteer shortage

(AP) — Phylis Allen spends her days looking for things. She searches for potatoes at Sam’s Club, cheap beets and ginger at Walmart and a local grocery store. She studies the weekly inventory from Good Shepherd, Maine’s only food bank, for good deals on butter and cheese.

Every Monday morning, she shops at three different stores, keeping lists of prices in her head and remembering what particular cl…