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(AP) -- WARSAW, Mo. (AP) -- A southwest Missouri food pantry that nearly had to close is celebrating an early Christmas.

The Benton County Food Pantry announced in November that it might close because it couldn't afford to repair the truck it used to bring in food for the 1,100 families it feeds every month.

Since then, the pantry in Warsaw received enough donations to feed its mostly elderly clients for the near future.

Pantry worker Debby Swerline says a man donated enough money to buy a 1999 truck. A rancher donated a pickup for local trips, and two trucking companies offered to help if the vehicles break down.

And Swerline says donations from across the state and local groups filled the pantry's nearly empty shelves.

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Information from: KYTV-TV, http://www.ky3.com

(Copyright ©2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)