Cache Valley Food Pantry benefits from student donations
The holiday season generally brings the best out of people, and all around the country the number of food donations is increasing.
But the community of Cache Valley is willing to help others during the whole year, said Matthew Whitaker, director of the Cache Community Food Pantry. Whitaker said the community helps a lot and that food donation numbers are very consistent, with a spike in November and December.
Whitaker said the food pantry holds three annual food drives. The next one will be held on Nov. 20, he said.
Whitaker said the Nov. 9 issue of The Herald Journal had a donation paper bag inside each newspaper. These bags are will be collected by volunteers next week, on the food drive day. The other two food drives are held in March and May. Whitaker also said student organizations are the largest providers of contributions.
“Without the students we would really be hurting here,” he said.
The Good Samaritan Club, a service club, started at Utah State University this semester, donated more than 8,500 pounds of food, said James Logan, president of the club. The members of the club and volunteer students placed donation bags at Lee’s Marketplace and Smith’s Food and Drug. Two days later, the group collected the donations from people’s houses, he said. Logan said the club plans on making this an annual event.
Whitaker said the donation made by The Good Samaritan club is one of the largest ever made to the pantry and the students from the Marketing and Human Resources class are a major help with hygiene supplies.
“The students from the leadership class often call and ask us what we need. And that is mostly hygiene products, like tooth brushes and toilet paper. Once they brought a moving truck full of those items,” he said.
Many fraternities and sororities on campus help every year, Whitaker said. Chi Omega puts together the Halloween carnival every year and charges cans of food for tickets instead of money.
Katie Steuri, president of the sorority, said the event started four years ago and this year, 1,100 pounds of food were donated to the pantry.
But not only college students help the pantry, Whitaker said, schools from all over the county donate food.
“We receive donations from elementary schools and middle schools. The high schools have almost a competition to see which one can get more cans for the food bank,” he said.
Last year, the food pantry helped more than 116,490 people, said Wendy King, who is in charge of distributing the food. From this number, 2,596 people were served through other agencies. The Rich County Senior Center, for example, receives about 400 pounds of food every month, King said. She said the Center helps 60 senior citizens with food each month as well.
In Cache County, the food pantry helps about 150 families with low income, King said. The amount of food varies depending on the number of people in the family and their monthly earnings. Families have to prove they live in Cache Valley and meet income qualifications, she said. For example, a family with six people and monthly paycheck lower than $2,600 qualifies for the pantry. The food distribution is every Tuesday and people can receive assistance once a week, twice a month or monthly, King said.
Whitaker said the worse period of donation is during the summer, when most students go back home. But it is not a “big deal,” he said. The donations made during the school year can keep the warehouse full, he said.
The Cache Community Food Pantry is open from Monday through Thursday from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. The pantry is located at 359 S. Main Street. There is a box in front of the main door in which people can place their donation at anytime.
-acantunes@cc.usu.edu