CROWN POINT | The combination of food flying off the shelves in the food pantry and generous monetary donations has lead Center Township Trustee Eldon Strong to ask his board to allow the creation of a Center Township Holiday Relief Fund.

"It's a good housekeeping practice," he said.

Strong said the township is lucky to have donors who give money not only during the holiday season, but all year. He said he wanted to create the fund so the money would be in the appropriate place so he could purchase food to replenish the food pantry.

The township is going through food and money faster than normal because of the economy, and the poor relief fund is near depletion, Strong said.

"We're going through a lot," he said.

The township usually receives turkeys from organizations to give to families for holiday dinners, but sometimes there are more families than birds, and adding holiday to the name of the fund would allow Strong to purchase some for the families who didn't receive one through the organizations.

Center Township includes Crown Point south of Summit Street and Cedar Lake east of Cline Avenue.

The board was scheduled to vote on the fund at a meeting today, but the meeting has been rescheduled for Dec. 30.