Convoy church food pantry serves needy

VW independent/submitted information

CONVOY — The Convoy Helping Hands Food Pantry, which recently received a donation of food from Avangrid Renewables, has a long history of serving its community that began more than 20 years ago in the basement of Convoy United Methodist Church.

Church member Pat Marsee had a dream in 1997 to provide a place in Convoy for families to receive help with food. Although Marsee lost her battle with cancer in September 1999, members of the church shared her dream and today the food pantry continues in her memory. 

The church trustees transformed the former church kitchen, which housed cupboards that were perfect for the pantry. Then donations were collected to stock the shelves. The pantry struggled for several years to provide a variety of products, but soon word traveled and donations of products and money started to filter in.

Today, the pantry serves more than 250 adults and children each year and fulfills Marsee’s dream to feed people when they were hungry. 

Pantry helper Vicki Saylor said community donations are crucial to the church being able to provide assistance to needy families in the community.

“We are so grateful to Avangrid and the many other businesses, organizations, and individuals who provide the items we distribute to needy families,” she noted.

The pantry cupboards, drawers, and freezer are continually replenished with food, health care items, and paper products through community support, including local businesses and factories, churches, the school, grants, organizations, and individuals allowing the pantry to continue to feed the hungry in the Crestview School District. 

• Cupboard 1 has canned vegetables, boxed potatoes, spaghetti and sauce, and chili supplies, 
• Cupboard 2 houses soup, macaroni and cheese, crackers, and canned and boxed meals. 
• Cupboard 3 has canned fruits, peanut butter, jelly, and boxed desserts. 
• Cupboard 4 has canned meats, noodles, and broth.  
• The breakfast food cupboard including oatmeal and pancake mix.   

The pantry also offers shampoo, deodorant, toothpaste, paper products, such as toilet paper, paper towels, and facial tissues, while church members work to keep things in the cupboards to make meals: tomato juice, beans, and hamburger for chili, spaghetti and spaghetti sauce, canned beef, noodles, and broth, hamburger and Hamburger Helper-type boxed meals, tuna and Tuna Helper boxed meals, mac and cheese, beef stew, chicken and dumplings, and similar items.   

The pantry also keeps personal hygiene items, paper products, laundry soap, things that needy families cannot purchase with state assistance.

The freezer is stocked with ground beef and ground pork, hot dogs, and bologna and miscellaneous donations. 

Several years ago, the pantry has asked for donations to purchase a beef and a hog at the fair and has done so since. A local family donates a hog from the fair that is made into ground pork. The pantry also has had turkeys and hams donated by Eaton Corporation the last couple of years.

Those who operate the pantry are grateful for the community’s support of the pantry, allowing it to serve those who are hungry in the Convoy area.