How big can a valentine be? Theresa Beach and Margie Heidelberg know.

It can be as big as a community’s heart, Heidelberg said.

Heidelberg, a volunteer at the Natchez Food Pantry, and Beach, the pantry director, on Monday showed off two large baskets filled with valentine gifts worth more than $500 each.

Raffle tickets for the baskets are on sale until 2 p.m. Friday, and the drawings will be at 5 p.m. Friday at the Natchez Mall center court.

Fund raising is important for the day-to-day operation of the food pantry, which received its jump-start from a United Way emergency fund grant, said Maria Bowser, chairman of United Way of the Greater Miss-Lou.

“That money is running out,” Bowser said. The pantry is a program of the Natchez Ministerial Alliance. Area churches support the pantry through food, volunteerism and money.

The valentine basket fundraiser was an idea Heidelberg suggested, Beach said. And it was Heidelberg who went out into the community looking for gifts to fill the baskets.

“Margie went out two times and came back with armloads. Our community really responded,” Beach said.

Of the 1,000 tickets the pantry personnel want to sell, more than 300 have been sold — some outside Wal-Mart last week and others through an e-mail campaign.

“On Friday, we’ll be at Main Street Marketplace,” Beach said. “People can come on in and have their coffee and beignet and buy their tickets.”

Tickets are $3 each or two for $5. All proceeds from the raffle will go to operating expenses, Beach said.

The baskets contain gifts and gift certificates from businesses such as restaurants, jewelry stores, flower shops, toy stores, book stores and bed & breakfast inns, for example.

Matilda Stephens, chairman of the food pantry advisory board, said the money raised by the raffle will help the pantry to do its work of feeding hungry families.

“Our community needs to know that the pantry is in desperate need of funds for operational expenses,” Stephens said. “Many grants and other funds are restricted to the purchase of food items only. If the lights aren’t on, food can’t be given out.”

The food pantry is located in the former AB Motor Co. at the corner of Wood Avenue and North Shields Lane.

Raffle tickets are available there from 9 to 11 a.m. today and Wednesday.

Open since early December, the food distribution agency has served more than 100 families each week.

Eligibility for food boxes may be determined by employment status, temporary emergency need or level of income.

Applications are available Monday through Wednesday, 9 to 11 a.m. Applicants should have proof of income, proof of residency and Social Security number. Food distribution time is Thursday, 8 to 10:30 a.m.