Food pantry seeks donations

ntry is seeking some additional help as winter approaches.
Food pantry volunteer Lori Johnson joined the food pantry as a volunteer in 2019, and has volunteered for the pantry for about four years. Johnson said the pantry is under the canopy of the Red Oak First Covenant Church, and is not a 501(c)(3). However, the pantry is in extra need this year.
“We have increased our client base substantially in the last six months. Compared to all of last year, we have grown exponentially, In our record week this year, we served 54 clients. Based on the number of people in their households, we fed 174 people,” Johnson advised. “In an average week, we would serve a bit more than 30 families per week. It really has increased substantially.”
Johnson made it clear that the increased need of the food pantry is in no way due to a lack of community support.
“We have a very generous community. It’s been a huge eye-opener for me at how generous it is in terms of donations. It’s not just food donations, it’s financial donations as well. That’s basically what we use to offer our clients, be it things we’ve purchased through financial donations, of food items that have been donated,” explained Johnson. “We also have a clothing closet that takes small appliances, small decorative things, and clothing for people of all ages, and we put out what we can. However, our primary focus is to provide food in a food insecure time.”
Johnson recalled a moment during the shutdown amidst the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic that really drove home the community’s generosity.
“We couldn’t be open, so all the items were outside and we served people outdoors. We had one car drive up and handed us an envelope that had over $1,000 in it. They had done a cake ball fund raiser, and all of the proceeds they raised came to the food pantry.”
Johnson also praised Joshua LeRette for all of his fundraising efforts to assist the food pantry.
“Joshua is amazing. Every year for so many years he has helped us with the fundraisers he has done,” commented Johnson.
Despite that, with the rising cost of food prices and gas prices, things at the pantry have been getting tighter, as more people are needing assistance.
“We have people that are working full-time that need the food pantry. Their budgets just can’t make ends meet until the end of the month,” stated Johnson.
The recent influx of clients has resulted in the food pantry limiting what food items clients can take. Thankfully, Johnson said they’ve been able to absorb some of that loss through perishable donations.
“One week, we got a huge donation of peaches, someone brought in two boxes of tomatoes, and we’ve had donations of summer squash and okra and Live Well Montgomery County always shares from their community garden what they have. Because we have to scale back some of what we’re able to give our clients, this is a nice time where the reduction in food not felt as badly thanks to those donations. We’re reducing the non perishables, but we’re making it up with perishables, so it’s sort of balancing out,” explained Johnson.
Another program that has been helping them make ends meet is offered through Food Donation Connection.
“They work with the National Restaurant Association and they connect with restaurants that don’t want to waste their food. KFC gathers the food they are unable to sell. They bag it up, freeze it, and once a week they bring us chicken that we can share with the clients. McDonalds has started doing it as well, and they save their breakfast items that we can offer to their clients. There are some nice private companies with offerings and programs we can be a part of, even though we’re not a registered 501(c)(3) food pantry,” Johnson stated.
Johnson said there are two important ways the community can help the food pantry as the winter months approach.
“Financial donations are always greatly appreciated. As the ebb and flow of our economy occurs, we have to adjust what we can offer clients based on what we can purchase. Financial donations are appreciated as much as food donations,” Johnson said. “We have a staples list that we go through with items like pork and beans, cereals, canned vegetables. We give those out based on the number in the family. If we have it available we give it out, and when we don’t we can’t.”
Thankfully, Johnson said they’ve been able to make up for some of the increased need through various food drives.
“I have reached out and been blessed by several of the local churches. Some of them have already given food, and others have committed to doing them. We also have some churches that give us donations every week, and some that do annual or bi-annual large donations. Also, there are a number of private individuals that donate to us every month. All of those donations allow us to help those that are food insecure,” Johnson commented.
Johnson added the push to seek further help is in part because of the loss of some of the fresh produce items they’ve been donated as winter comes, and in part because of the continued influx of new clients.
“We had six new families come to the food pantry last week. We are continuing to grow our client base, and we can see it’s not slowing down. If the trend continues, we are going to need all the help we can get. As things continue for us, we want to be able to help as much as we can. We are trying to get the word out that with this client base growing, so is our need, and we will take any help they can give us,” Johnson commented. “No matter how things get in the future, we’re always going to be there doing the best we can with what we’ve got and serving as many people as we can.”
Johnson said her experience with the food pantry these past four years has been a two-fold experience.
“It’s been eye-opening to me that there’s such a tremendous need in such a small community. I’m also humbled by the generosity of our community to helping those in need,” commented Johnson. “It’s a blast to watch my daughter Sarah on Wednesdays. Everyone knows Sarah, and when they see us out and about, they’ll tell us how they’ll see us on Wednesdays.”
Also, the food pantry is assisting clients once a month, rather than once every three months as they did in year’s past.
“Years and years ago when it was at the other building, it was quarterly, but as times have changed and things have progressed and gotten more difficult, and thanks to the blessings of the community, we were able to let people come in for assistance more often.”
If someone wishes to make a donation, call Lori at 712-370-2907, or Pastor Alan Dean at the First Covenant Church at 623-2195. Checks can also be mailed to the First Covenant Church at 211 E. Hammond St., Red Oak, IA 51566.
The Christ’s Cupboard Food Pantry is open every Wednesday from 1 to 4:45 p.m. for clients and donations. Donations can be made at the back door. They are also open for donations only at the back door Fridays from 10 a.m. to noon.