Good Samaritan secures grants to help local food pantries
MONTGOMERY COUNTY — A local nursing home has donated nearly $5,000 to local food pantries to help make sure the elderly are being fed.
Two years ago, in response to a growing need locally and nationally, staff at Good Samaritan Society in Red Oak and Villisca quietly launched a behind-the-scenes community-outreach effort, referred to as SOS (Supporting our Seniors).
They partnered with others in the community who shared their vision of reaching out to seniors by providing confidential food pantry delivery service. Good Samaritan then applied for grants on behalf of the pantries in anticipation of increased usage by the senior community.
“When we were awarded our first SOS grant through The Evangelical Lutheran Good Samaritan Society’s Helping Hands Fund, we gave it to the Church of the Nazarene in Red Oak, who graciously passed on any unused monies to Christ’s Cupboard in Red Oak when their pantry closed,” said Lisa Vetter, Community Relations Director at Good Samaritan.
The latest grant of $4,600 is being divided equally between the Villisca Food Pantry, housed at the United Methodist Church and operated by Villisca’s Interchurch Council, and a new food pantry in Red Oak at First Baptist Church on 504 East Reed Street, which has added an exclusive phone line for seniors in need to call for confidential delivery service of pantry items.
“Finding ways to serve older persons and others in need is part of our mission statement,” said Brandi Petrik, Administrator at Good Samaritan Society. “But it isn’t just our mission; it is a mission shared by our home health and church community, as well as every one of our local food pantries.”
Deb Whitworth Jespersen, one of the volunteer coordinators at the First Baptist Food Pantry wants seniors to know that it is okay to ask for help.
“We understand how hard it is to ask for assistance, but we also know that these are the same people who have helped so many others in their lifetime. We hope that by being able to offer this confidential phone line, seniors who need a little extra help will receive it.”
Villisca’s Food Pantry is open by appointment by calling Rev. Gordon Scott at (712) 826-3132 or Rev. Sandy Wainwright Rossander at (712) 826-3372 and is located at 203 South 3rd Avenue in Villisca.
Christ’s Cupboard is located at 401 Reed Street and is open Wednesdays from 3-5 p.m. and Thursdays from 4:30 – 7 p.m. or contact Rev. Alan Dean at (712) 623-2195.
The food pantry at First Baptist Church is open Tues-days and Fridays from 1-5 p.m. and the SOS hotline number is (712) 357-1028 (local number for Red Oak residents).