What is the difference between a food bank and a food pantry?
Independent community food pantries are self-governing and usually distribute food to their clients on a once-a-month basis. A food bank is the storehouse for millions of pounds of food and other products that go out to the community. A food pantry functions as the arms that reach out to that community directly.
When was the first food bank?
According to Google, “the world’s first food bank was the St. Mary’s Food Bank Alliance in Arizona, founded by John van Hengel in 1967.Van Hengel decided to set up a warehouse where he could store the donated products for distribution to charities feeding hungry people in Phoenix. It was the birth of the first food bank and the foundation for a movement that would spread across the nation, beginning in the early 1970s.”
How does Cupboard By Grace work?
The “Cupboard” is an outreach ministry of First Presbyterian Church and is supported primarily through allocated funds from our annual church budget. These funds allow us to do the following: purchase food from the Wichita Falls Area Food Bank (WFAFB); purchase other needed food and supplies; gas to transport food purchases; maintenance and repairs on the pantry and vehicle; utilities; insurance; and miscellaneous expenses.
Each Monday, excluding major holidays and the first Monday of the month, qualified recipients receive sacked groceries and fresh produce (when available from the WFAFB). We have wonderful volunteers, both from the church AND the community, who commit their time throughout the week in various functions: registration; distribution; ordering food; unloading inventory; stocking in preparation for sacking; sacking; entering statistics; driving to pick up food; breaking down boxes; and cleaning the Cupboard. As Director, I work alongside those in the above capacities, maintain requirements set by the WFAFB, receive and give training, and oversee the functionality of the ministry.
As the proverb says: “Many hands make light work!” If anyone is interested in volunteering their time in this wonderful ministry, please contact me. We’d love to have you join us!
~Joyce Records Director, Cupboard By Grace
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SHARING GREAT NEWS!!!!!!!
On October 15, 2019, Southwest Rural Electric Association’s (SWRE) charitable foundation, known as Operation Round Up, awarded $40,000 in grants to 21 organizations in southwest Oklahoma and north Texas. Cupboard by Grace was a proud recipient of a $2,500 grant! Application was made to be considered for a grant from SWRE, to assist in the purchase of a used box truck to aid in our delivery of food purchases from the Wichita Falls Area Food Bank.
Why is this needed? Two reasons: 1) Purchased food is loaded onto wooden pallets for transport to CBG from the food bank and often shifts in transport due to wind currents, despite that the stacks of food are shrink wrapped. This creates the need for those delivering the food to stop on the side of the highway and realign the stacks of food, which in turn creates both a potential hazardous and time consuming situation. 2) Our used church van continues to age and thus requires more and more repairs. In an effort to decrease wear and tear, we are cutting down deliveries to twice a month, but increasing the amount of food purchased. This in turn means more pallets of food per delivery.
Pastor George has been diligently working with McLane Food Services out of the Dallas area in hopes that they might donate a used box truck for our purposes, but they have declined. Therefore, we have been in discussion with Session and have been researching truck availabilities and various means to apply for grant money, etc. We are hoping to locate a medium sized box truck, in good shape, at a good price. (Neither a refrigerated unit nor lift gate is a requirement.) If anyone has any leads, please contact myself or Pastor George.