The Every Child Is Ours food pantry is doing their best to gobble up hunger one family at a time and has been awarded federal assistance to help them with this task.
E.C.I.O. President Jan Pascal and her devoted crew of volunteers have been working for awhile to obtain this government-sponsored support.
“We have been trying for a year to get USDA food at the E.C.I.O. pantry,” Pascal said. “Everything is done through the Arkansas Rice Depot, and they have been very helpful and just wonderful to work with.”
The Arkansas Rice Depot was created in 1982 to fight hunger in the state and distributes more than 8-million pounds of food every year to people living in poverty.
Another Arkansas Rice Depot program Pascal hopes to be part of will help keep disadvantaged kids in the Jackson County School District a little warmer this winter.
“They will help us get new coats for children in our schools that need them,” Pascal said. “They provide several services, and we are grateful to be part of their family.”
The people working at the pantry are what make it so successful, and Pascal’s longtime friend and fellow volunteer Lucy Antonovitch has yet to hear anybody grumble or whine when work is to be done.
“None of the volunteers ever complain when they are asked to do something around the pantry,” Antonovitch said. “Everybody there shares Jan’s passion for helping people, and they are just as excited about it as she is.”
Several of the volunteers are also recipients of assistance.
Those eligible for the food program are allowed to come once every other week, and Antonovitch has noticed a significant increase in visitors.
“We disperse food on Mondays, and they can come back every other Monday to pick it up,” Antonovitch said. “We signed up about 20 more new families during the last two weeks.”
The pantry plans to keep purchasing more supplies and provide as many community- assistance programs as possible.
“We are going to keep doing everything we can to keep buying more and more food, and keep helping in every way that we can because the need is so huge,” Pascal said. “If you live in Tuckerman, Swifton, Grubbs or Campbell Station, then we are here for you if you need us.”
Pascal thinks needing help is nothing to be ashamed of, and all new visitors are welcomed with open arms.
“The people that come in here to get food are good folks that just happened to need a little bit of extra help because times are bad for almost everybody,” Pascal said. “Several of them are couples in their thirties with children that have moved back home to live with their parents. These are just regular, average people that have lost their jobs because of the economy, and many of them are stunned to be without a job.”
The pantry would not be able to feed a multitude of families without the selfless effort of the volunteers there.
“The secret to our success is our volunteers,” Pascal said. “We have about 20 people that work there every week, and they come to donate their time to help our community. It is great to work with such a wonderful group of volunteers, and I feel like they are my family.”
E.C.I.O. volunteer Bill Evans enjoys working at the food pantry because it allows him to make new friends.
“I like meeting people and being able to help them,” Evans said. “Sometimes we work pretty hard here, but I’m used to it because I spent thirty years working at Norandal.”
Pascal wants everyone to know there are some forms to be filled out before families may be given the food, but the process becomes much simpler on their second visit to the pantry
“There is paperwork that has to be completed by anybody that comes in to get food for the first time,” Pascal said. “They only have to sign in when they come back the second time.”
Processing the forms increased waiting time at the pantry this week, but Pascal is certain things will move faster as volunteers become familiar with the forms.
“It took us a little longer than usual Monday to hand out the food, but I never heard anybody complain about the wait,” Pascal said.
There are a few other rules the pantry must follow in order to receive the federal assistance. All U.S.D.A. food must be stored separately from all other food, and donations may not be solicited inside the building because of the grant.
The E.C.I.O. backpack program, which feeds more than 70 school children each week, is set to begin soon.
“I am extremely proud of our schools because they are doing so well, and we are pleased to help the students that need it,” Pascal said.
To make a donation or for more information, visit www.everychildisours.net or www.ricedepot.org.
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The Every Child Is Ours food pantry is doing their best to gobble up hunger one family at a time and has been awarded federal assistance to help them with this task.
E.C.I.O. President Jan Pascal and her devoted crew of volunteers have been working for awhile to obtain this government-sponsored support.
“We have been trying for a year to get USDA food at the E.C.I.O. pantry,” Pascal said. “Everything is done through the Arkansas Rice Depot, and they have been very helpful and just wonderful to work with.”
The Arkansas Rice Depot was created in 1982 to fight hunger in the state and distributes more than 8-million pounds of food every year to people living in poverty.
Another Arkansas Rice Depot program Pascal hopes to be part of will help keep disadvantaged kids in the Jackson County School District a little warmer this winter.
“They will help us get new coats for children in our schools that need them,” Pascal said. “They provide several services, and we are grateful to be part of their family.”
The people working at the pantry are what make it so successful, and Pascal’s longtime friend and fellow volunteer Lucy Antonovitch has yet to hear anybody grumble or whine when work is to be done.
“None of the volunteers ever complain when they are asked to do something around the pantry,” Antonovitch said. “Everybody there shares Jan’s passion for helping people, and they are just as excited about it as she is.”
Several of the volunteers are also recipients of assistance.
Those eligible for the food program are allowed to come once every other week, and Antonovitch has noticed a significant increase in visitors.
“We disperse food on Mondays, and they can come back every other Monday to pick it up,” Antonovitch said. “We signed up about 20 more new families during the last two weeks.”
The pantry plans to keep purchasing more supplies and provide as many community- assistance programs as possible.
“We are going to keep doing everything we can to keep buying more and more food, and keep helping in every way that we can because the need is so huge,” Pascal said. “If you live in Tuckerman, Swifton, Grubbs or Campbell Station, then we are here for you if you need us.”
Pascal thinks needing help is nothing to be ashamed of, and all new visitors are welcomed with open arms.
“The people that come in here to get food are good folks that just happened to need a little bit of extra help because times are bad for almost everybody,” Pascal said. “Several of them are couples in their thirties with children that have moved back home to live with their parents. These are just regular, average people that have lost their jobs because of the economy, and many of them are stunned to be without a job.”
The pantry would not be able to feed a multitude of families without the selfless effort of the volunteers there.
“The secret to our success is our volunteers,” Pascal said. “We have about 20 people that work there every week, and they come to donate their time to help our community. It is great to work with such a wonderful group of volunteers, and I feel like they are my family.”
E.C.I.O. volunteer Bill Evans enjoys working at the food pantry because it allows him to make new friends.
“I like meeting people and being able to help them,” Evans said. “Sometimes we work pretty hard here, but I’m used to it because I spent thirty years working at Norandal.”
Pascal wants everyone to know there are some forms to be filled out before families may be given the food, but the process becomes much simpler on their second visit to the pantry
“There is paperwork that has to be completed by anybody that comes in to get food for the first time,” Pascal said. “They only have to sign in when they come back the second time.”
Processing the forms increased waiting time at the pantry this week, but Pascal is certain things will move faster as volunteers become familiar with the forms.
“It took us a little longer than usual Monday to hand out the food, but I never heard anybody complain about the wait,” Pascal said.
There are a few other rules the pantry must follow in order to receive the federal assistance. All U.S.D.A. food must be stored separately from all other food, and donations may not be solicited inside the building because of the grant.
The E.C.I.O. backpack program, which feeds more than 70 school children each week, is set to begin soon.
“I am extremely proud of our schools because they are doing so well, and we are pleased to help the students that need it,” Pascal said.
To make a donation or for more information, visit www.everychildisours.net or www.ricedepot.org.
