First Posted: 1/8/2014
Volunteers braved below-zero temperatures last Tuesday to do their assigned work at the Back Mountain Food Pantry.
The pantry, which has been serving the public since 1977, is housed in the administrative building of the Trucksville United Methodist Church.
Calvin Sutton, of Dallas, stocked shelves. Sutton has been working with the pantry for about two years. “On Tuesdays, I sort food from donations,” he said.
Sutt0n feels the work he does is important. When he sees people coming in for the food distribution on Fridays, he realizes “it’s tough times. People need help.”
Sutton enjoys working with the other volunteers at the pantry. “The people here are super. There’s no stress. It’s enjoyable.”
According to pantry director Carol Eyet, the pantry provides food assistance to 230 families or clients, as they are referred to by the staff. Clients must live in Lake-Lehman or Dallas school districts.
“We don’t ask how much money they make,” Eyet said. “We just ask if their income falls below our guidelines. The guidelines are set based on the number of people in a family.”
The pantry also has a summer program called “No Hungry Tummies.”
This program provides a bag of food for every child in the program during the summer months when children are not fed by breakfast and lunch programs at school.
The bags include cereal and other nutritious supplements to replace what the school has been giving them.
Joe Hardisky is in charge of the “No Hungry Tummies” program.
According to Eyet, “There are still a lot of people who don’t know it (the pantry) exists. They think Back Mountain is a rich area.”
Robert Ash, of Trucksville, worked in the storage room on Tuesday, unloading boxes of donations and sorting them so they could be moved to the pantry shelves.
He started working at the pantry after his wife died last January. “I had just retired. It gets me out of the house and I enjoy it,” he said.
Ash will also begin delivering a “Meals on Wheels” route this week. “I worked until I was 73,” he said. “This gives me something to do.”
Carolyn Straka, of Oak Hill, has worked at the pantry for several years and also braved the cold to do her assigned job at the pantry. “I do paperwork,” she said, making sure all donors who fill out a form get a tax receipt and a thank you note.
Straka also speaks to prospective clients on the phone, adding that pantry phones are manned at regular times and clients can always expect a call back if they leave a number.
Straka said all kinds of groups donate to the pantry. “All the churches have an interest in feeding the hungry, she said.” She also said there are individuals who make regular monthly donations.
Eyet said the pantry depends on the community for donations, reporting thta churches, Scout groups, and school groups collect food for the pantry. “Lots of people in the community just drop by with food. We have tremendous community support.”
About 8,000 pounds of food was recently donated by students and teachers at the Dallas Senior High School. “It’s the biggest donation we’ve ever had from one group,” said Eyet.
The pantry receives non-perishable food items but also accepts paper goods like toilet tissue and paper towels. The pantry gets lots of canned vegetables and soups but could always use more canned fruit and paper goods are always in demand and go quickly.
It is abundantly clear that the pantry couldn’t survive without its dedicated volunteers as there are 40 people who work regularly for the all-volunteer program. Some have worked for many years.
Eyet cited longtime volunteer Jennie Hill, of Shavertown, who partners with Teresa Brown, also of Shavertown. Hill fell and is now using a walker and cannot drive but Brown picks her up so they can still volunteer together on their assigned Friday.
“That’s how determined these people are to help,”Eyet noted.
