By ASHLEY INGE
TheFlashToday.com
STEPHENVILLE (July 19, 2018) – The Stephenville Community Pantry will debut on Thursday, July 19. The mobile food pantry will deliver fresh produce on the third Thursday of every month from 5 – 7 p.m. in the Stephenville First Baptist Church parking lot.
Many organizations have been a part of creating the Stephenville Community Pantry. H.O.P.E., Inc. (Helping Other People Effectively), Basic Needs Ministry, St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, The Love Basket, and many other churches, organizations and businesses have collaborated to create the food pantry.
The idea for the food pantry was brought up by TAFB (Tarrant Area Food Bank) representative, Nate Starmer during one of the tri-county get-togethers around six months ago.
Judy Blackburn, co-director of the St. Luke’s Food Pantry, said, “Once we found out that (food pantries were) in Granbury, Hico and Hamilton, we started asking them if Stephenville could have the same thing and it’s just taken this long to get it started.”
The mobile food pantry will have between 12 to 14 different kinds of fresh fruits and vegetables. Food will be sent for 300 families. Individuals who come to the food pantry will also need to bring their own shopping bags for the food.
“Our outcome is to feed people, to get them some fresh produce and to make bodies healthier,” Blackburn said.
People have to qualify in order to get food from the pantry. If an individual already qualifies for food stamps, Medicaid, free and reduced lunches for their kids or for SSI, then they automatically qualify for the mobile food pantry.
If food is left over on Thursday, then the food will go to either H.O.P.E., Inc., or to the Dublin food pantry which meets on Friday. If individuals are unable to come to the food pantry on Thursday in Stephenville, then they can go to H.O.P.E., Inc., or the Dublin food pantry on Friday.
Jill Scott, executive director at H.O.P.E., Inc., said that the main idea of the Stephenville Community Pantry is to “give fresh fruits and vegetables into the hands of people that need them.”
“This is something that’s a combined effort of the five Tarrant Area Food Bank pantries in Erath county in Stephenville and Dublin, but it’s something we’ve been working on for a while and we’re excited that it’s finally going to happen here,” Scott said.
Around 50 volunteers are needed for the food pantry. Some volunteers will be helping with paperwork; some volunteers will be handing out food and some volunteers will be distributing about 45-50 pounds of food to individual’s cars. Volunteers will need to help set up at 4 p.m. and will need to work until 7:30 p.m. for help with cleanup. Students who volunteer need to be at least high school age or older. To sign up to volunteer, go to justserve.org, type in “Stephenville” and click on “Stephenville Community Pantry.
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