State-Journal.com - Food pantry sets $50,000 goal

The Emergency Community Food Pantry needs the community’s help to raise $50,000 – in a time-crunched four months – to build a new storage facility.

Today at 5 p.m., the Food Pantry board has invited community leaders and supporters to a reception at the First United Methodist Church to plead their case for funds to construct a $100,000 building that could include freezers and more space for sorting and storing donated food.

The Kentucky Colonels foundation gave the effort a boost in September, when it provided a $50,000 matching grant. The grant specifies that they must be under contract by Feb. 28, 2010.

President Tom Utterback said tonight’s event is twofold.

“We want to celebrate the grant we have received and let the community know about it, but we also are asking for help in matching it,” he said.

Because of the short timeframe, the United Way is allowing the organization to move forward with fundraising when normally it is a blackout period for individual organizations

Up to now storage has been provided free in a building owned by First Federal Savings and Loan on the east side of town.

“We are extremely grateful to them. We couldn’t have lasted this long without the storage they have provided us, but the needs of the community have grown and we need more space,” volunteer Garnett Hulette said.

The board is considering two sites.

Board member Roy McCall said they are hopeful that the new building will contain freezer space, larger sorting tables, plenty of shelving and a restroom facility for the volunteers that are working on site.

“Being able to have space to move around will be a plus,” he said.

Utterback said having walk-in freezers and cooling units would allow them to receive USDA frozen commodities from God’s Pantry in Lexington.

“The coolers will allow us to store fresh produce from grocers and local producers,” he said. “We have never been able to offer complete meals and these two additions will go a long way to make this happen.”

Hulette said the food pantry is all about neighbor helping neighbor. Groups like the Boy Scouts, Kiwanis and postal workers collect the food.

“One of our most successful food drives happens when postal workers collect door to door for us and the St. Vincent DePaul charity,” he said.

Kroger is one of the food pantry’s biggest suppliers, providing bread and other baked goods.

“Sometimes they will get food that does not sell well or as quickly as they would like and pass it on to us,” McCall said.

Churches also do collection drives.

“They are always been so generous in helping us to collect food. Often those in need will go to a church seeking help,” Hulette said.

Those in need of food may request it through organizations like the Salvation Army, the Red Cross, school resource centers or churches. Those organizations then refer them to Resource Office of Social Ministries, which serves as the clearing house for Franklin County.

“It is ROSM that verifies the need of the family and contacts us,” Hulette said.

A family gets a week’s worth of food and may receive it three times in six months, or six times a year.

“We can’t be a grocery store, but we are a helping hand,” Hulette said.

The food pantry provides food to the needy every day of the year, except for Thanksgiving and Christmas when the Salvation Army takes over.

Utterback said the food pantry adds to the Salvation Army collections with items where they fall short.

The system works with 100 percent volunteers, who respond as soon as they get a call, including emergencies such as losing a home to a fire.

“There is extreme need in this community,” Hulette said.

“More than 50 percent of our children have only one parent in the household. Many go home to an empty refrigerator. We just can’t let that happen – not here.”

According to Hulette, volunteerism is critical to Franklin County.

“We have so many needs,” he said. “To help somebody who really needs you enriches your life.”

Tax-deductible donations can be mailed to the Franklin County Food Pantry, P.O. Box 48, Frankfort, KY 40602.