Mountrail Community Food Pantry News
The Mountrail Community Food Pantry provided 8,089 pounds of food to 76 Mountrail County families in May for a total of 231 people, of which 88 were children and 39 were seniors! Cashwise donated 1731 pounds of food that Greg and Bill loaded up, hauled, unloaded and weighed, which was then stocked in our pantry to head right back out the door with our clients!! Thank you, Cashwise!! And thank you, gentlemen!!
Since we were closed for Memorial Day, there were three Mondays in May that we were open to serve, so our totals are a little less than usual. It was a busy month, just the same! I am so thankful for our dedicated crew!! Everyone pitches in wherever there is a need, and the laughter that floats around our pantry as we get things ready for clients is just plain therapeutic to be around!
We have had wonderful farm fresh eggs donated for the past several months, and boy, are those a hit!!! A young lady whose chickens laid steadily even in the cold months (which is usually not the case!) has been sharing many of those eggs with us!! The clients LOVE these eggs!! As it is with most things, homegrown always seems to taste the best!! A giant thank you to this young lady, who has delivered them to us every Monday!!
We have had donations from a church and from those that choose our pantry as a way to honor the lives of someone that has gone Home. We are thankful to be thought of in this way.
Cashwise held their Round Up Program for our pantry again. We received $1700.00 in gift cards from that program!! Thank you Cashwise and thank you to everyone that rounded up!!! You can see what a huge difference this makes!! We use the gift cards to pay for the weekly grocery items that we order every Monday!!
The Disciple Lutheran Parish Sunday School kids made up, and delivered, some handy meal packets! They printed out a chili recipe, put it in a Ziploc bag with the ingredients, to make a fun and easy meal!! With school being out, this is especially wonderful, because kids could make this meal themselves!! Thank you to those thoughtful children!! I posted a few pictures (always with permission) on our Facebook page, if you’d like to learn more!! I really do think that a person could make a business out of doing this kind of thing. How wonderful would it be to come to the store at the end of a long day, grab a bag of ingredients, take it home, mix it all together and have a delicious meal!!
In an effort to take care of our backs, we purchased two more rolling carts. Many of us are make-do kind of people, just using what we’ve got. But, thanks to several observant volunteers, we noticed that we were lifting and carrying and bending over, way more than was necessary! With these carts, boxes are placed on them, rolled over to wherever the items need to be stocked, and then the items are taken right out of the box. No more trying to hold that heavy box while stocking, or setting it down and then taking items from the box on the floor…. it’s made a world of difference!! It was definitely an idea whose time had come!! And I’m thankful for our volunteer family that really watches out for each other!!
A few pieces of information to share…. Our pantry hours of operation are 12:30 to 3:00 p.m. on Mondays. (except legal holidays). If you need help, or someone you know needs a little help in providing food for their family, please share our information with them and please feel welcome to visit our pantry. You won’t find a friendlier greeting anywhere than when you walk through our doors!! Our volunteers are the best at what they do!! Not only do they welcome people like they are family when they arrive, but they check them in, make certain their information is what we require, provide instructions if needed, give out a voucher if we have them to give out, weigh their food, record the weight of the food for our reporting needs, and then merrily wish everyone a good rest of the day as they walk back out the door with their food. I think it’s safe to say that people leave our pantry with a smile, feeling better about their day, in large part because of the family atmosphere that our volunteers create every Monday.
Speaking of our day’s work, we would very much appreciate it if folks would be here no later than 2:30 p.m. so we can go home by 3:00 p.m. (We have been hustling to prepare for our clients since 9:30 a.m. or so that morning, so we are plenty tired by 3:00). We will be open all of the Mondays in June.
If you’d like to follow us, we are on Facebook at Mountrail Community Food Pantry. You will see any announcements we may have, as well as fun photos of our food pantry donors/unloaders/occasional antics!!
As promised, I will provide our address for people that would like to donate in some way. Our physical address is the Memorial Building, 18 2nd Ave SE, Stanley. The door in the southeast corner of the building is ours, if a person would like to drop off food donations, and our mailing address remains the same; 6989 84th Ave NW, Stanley 58784. If you’d like to save postage, you can slide an envelope right under our door at the pantry, and we will find it when we arrive!
The next time I write our newsletter, we will have already celebrated America’s 250th birthday!! I think about the many generations of good-hearted, hard-working people that built their lives, and this country, upon the firm foundation of their faith, with a steadfast belief that they were making a better life for themselves, for their families, and for their neighbors. I think about the many sacrifices that have been made to get us here. We have so much to be thankful for, and so much to celebrate! America is the most incredibly beautiful, honorable, freedom-loving, innovative, creative, compassionate country in the world!!
It is my hope that as our flags proudly fly from every flagpole, and family surrounds us as we grill hamburgers and eat potato salad, watching excited children squealing in delight as they sprint through the sprinklers… and finishing our day with breathtaking fireworks dazzling us in the evening skies, that we take a moment and offer a quiet prayer of gratitude to the One that has given us this great country to love, for those that have wisely guided generations along the way, for those that protect us, for those that continue to serve in one form or another, for each other, and for America herself.
May God bless you and keep you.
May God bless America…
Mary