The Kroger Company on Monday donated a $20,000 truckload of non-perishable food to the Clinton County Community Action Food Bank to assist the economically distressed Clinton County area.

Wilmington Kroger Store Manager Eric Deel said the local area is a “wonderful, hard-working community.”

Deel said he and Kroger staff know the residents will rebuild, and the donation of food is an effort “to extend a helping hand to help you along the way.”

Clinton County Community Action Executive Director Dean Knapp said the local area is experiencing “an economic catastrophe exceeding the national norm” in what is a severe national recession.

Commenting there has been a lot of anger about corporate mismanagement and misconduct contributing to the eroding national economy, Knapp commended the Kroger Company, which has its corporate headquarters in Cincinnati, for the unsolicited donation of food.

The donated food, unlike the Feed The Children donation, will not be distributed all at once, Knapp said. Instead, it will be distributed Mondays through Fridays from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at the Community Action Food Bank, 789 N. Nelson Ave., Wilmington. For more information, the phone number is 382-8365.

Eli Yovich, Community Action board chairman, said the grocery store chain’s donation is an example of a “private entity working for a community in need.”

Wilmington Mayor David Raizk said the act is a case of neighbors helping their neighbors.

“None of us wants a hand-out. We just want a hand-up,” said the mayor.

There were 22 pallets of food and other items unloaded from the truck.