Grants, Gallup Community Pantry serves thousands

By Jim Tiffin
Cibola County Bureau

GRANTS — The Grants Community Pantry is a branch of The Community Pantry in Gallup and between the two of them, they serve more than 8,000 hungry people each month.

Reuben Thomas, minister of the First United Methodist Church in Grants, and the founder of the food pantry here, said in late 2002 he asked his congregation what was needed in Grants.

"They said a food bank, so we looked into it and contacted The Community Pantry in Gallup. We started offering produce on our parking lot here at the church every week," he said.

After showing a need for food and commodities in Grants, The Community Pantry brought the Grants operation on board as an official branch and today Grants receives about 20 percent of all the food and produce that the Gallup pantry receives, said Jim Harlan, executive director of the Gallup pantry.

Once a week in Cibola County, anyone can go to the pantry in Grants and received fresh produce, Thomas said.

And, once a month, anyone who meets federal income requirements may receive government commodities.

Tracking
Everyone who comes in is tracked on computer, so pantry volunteers can keep track of who is coming in, Thomas said.

Some of the produce being distributed recently includes potatoes, onions, eggplant, cabbage, carrots, squash and apples.

The commodities include: canned corn, beans, refried beans, pinto beans, cranberry concentrate, powdered milk, beef stew, spaghetti and spaghetti sauce.

Emergency food boxes are also provided to stranded travelers and those who may be victims of fire, flood or other emergencies, Thomas said.

Any money donated to the pantry goes toward paying utilities for the coolers and freezers, lights and to buy food. There is no overhead cost for administration or employees because the pantry is strictly an all volunteer organization, Thomas said.

Ecumenical project
There are five Grants churches who sponsor the pantry by providing a total of 25 volunteers who help operate the pantry: First Methodist Church, First Baptist Church, Church of Christ, New Life Assembly of God and First Presbyterian.

There are five smaller churches that do not have enough people to provide volunteers, but offer monetary donations as support: Mt. Taylor Fellowship, Mt. Taylor Baptist, the Temple of Peace, the Lutheran and Episcopal churches, he said.

"This is truly an ecumenical project," he said.

For those who wonder if they meet the income eligibility requirements, Nendele Hogue, a volunteer from the First Baptist Church, said the requirements are:

• One person in the household, $1,476
  
• Two people, $1,979
  
• Three people, $2,482
  
• Four people, $2,985
  
• Five people, $3,488

Income must be verified. Anyone having a food stamp card from the state automatically qualifies for the commodities, she said.

Every Friday the pantry serves between 250-280 families for commodities.

Each week, the pantry distributes about 380-400 produce packages, Thomas said.

Gallup
In Gallup, The Community Pantry serves more than 6,000 families with produce packages each month and more than 2,000 with commodities, Harlan said.

"We also have 200 in specialized senior programs," he said.

The pantrys are both part of the Second Harvest national food program and members of the New Mexico Association of Food Banks.

Hours and days openIn Grants, hours the pantry is open are 10 a.m.-3 p.m., Monday through Friday. The pantry is at 222 E. Stephens in Grants.

In Gallup, The Community Pantry is open from 9 a.m.-4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday and is at 1130 E. Hasler Valley Road.

"The Grants Community Pantry would not have been possible without the support of The Community Pantry in Gallup and the reason we are open and able to serve the people of Cibola County is because of Jim Harlan in Gallup," Thomas said.

To contact reporter Jim Tiffin, call (505) 287-2197 or fax: (505) 287-2581.