Happy Birthday, Little Pantry!

"Feed my sheep." - John 21:17

Our little pantry turns one year old this Thursday! That marks 366 days* of putting food out for those in our community who need it. Our pantry fills a gap that Emergency Food Box and the House of Compassion's evening meals cannot meet on their own. Bottles of water put in it have helped people on foot on hot days, and granola bars and other snacks have helped people keep going on hard days. Thank you for your support of this ministry through your prayers, time, and donations of food and money.

In the first year, over 3,200 items were donated to our pantry directly. An additional 435 items have been donated from other sources. On top of that, eleven boxes (with approximately 39 bags in each) of Meals from the Heartland Hearty Packs and Taco Mac have been given to us this past year. These meals are nutritionally complete and make six servings when made with just water. Most of that is gone, though we have a small supply left. Some Hearty Packs we supplement with canned goods so people can make the recipes the Extension Office has worked up.

Each day we put items for three meals, a fruit and vegetable, and breakfast items in the box. In the summer we beefed that up since children were home and not getting school lunch every day. If we have personal care items they are also put out. In addition, we give away many English and Spanish Bibles and our church cookbook.

There have been some interesting finds in and near the food box. Most mornings the box is empty save the cookbook or a Bible. Some days, like this morning, someone has added items of their own, giving back when they are able. Sometimes someone has cleaned out their cupboard and added items we don't often have, leaving a treat for someone else. One recent morning two boxes of canned goods were sitting on the ground under the pantry, resupplying our vegetables when we had just run out.

The community supports our pantry, too. Aside from items put directly in the box, we receive meal packs and gift cards through the Emergency Food Box and the Marshall County Extension office. Once we got 40# of green bananas in this way! In the last month we've begun receiving left over bread products each week. These have been a huge and welcome addition to our offerings.

There are many people in our congregation working to support the pantry, picking up the bread and other items the extension office has for us, attending county food security meetings, assembling recipe items for Hearty Packs, and putting our daily items in the pantry on weekends. You can help by continuing to bring items for the pantry and asking to be put on the list of people who will put food out on weekends and holidays. Some items our pantry currently needs include: peanut butter, jelly, and other sandwich spread, canned fruit and fruit or applesauce cups, canned soups, canned meals such as spaghettios and ravioli, crackers that have packaged sleeves, pasta and sauce, and seasonal grocery items such as pumpkin, stuffing mix, and gravy.

Thank you for supporting this ministry over the past year.

The first time we filled the pantry, November 15, 2023.

Filling recipe bags for Hearty Packs.

*2024 had Leap Day