February 28, 2019
By: Dwayne Page
God’s Food Pantry is on a mission! To feed the hungry in this community and beyond.
For more than a decade the pantry has provided food and other essentials to help meet the needs of the medically frail and elderly, children, veterans, the homeless, and the working poor.
Food is distributed on the first Friday after the first Thursday and on the third Friday of every month from 9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. from the pantry at 430 East Broad in Smithville but a special drive was held Wednesday.
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The effort began twelve years ago as the First United Methodist Church Food Pantry located at the Methodist Church. However because of space issues, the pantry was later moved to its first community location at 107B East Bryant Street. Due to an increasing need for more services and additional space, the pantry moved again to its current location three years ago.
“Today we call it God’s Food Pantry because of the multitude of churches now supporting it. There are people in the community, businesses, civic organizations and even food drives who give us donations along with Food Lion, Tenneco Automotive, and Wilson Bank & Trust who are especially supportive,” said Pat Zornow, a volunteer.
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“Each year the numbers of people we serve increases. We started out with 999 people that first year. Now we’re serving thousands. They come from many counties. We are the main pantry in this area especially for children services,” Zornow said.
“On days when we have meat to give away we usually have about 350 families that come through but we also have 106 deliveries and pickups that are special because of the medically frail and the elderly. If someone is on a special diet we’ll purchase the foods they need. We provide extra help with gas cards and Food Lion cards and assist with utilities, rent, and medications especially for our elderly who can’t afford to pay for it. We even buy special clothes for people who may need adequate apparel. For those who can work we let them know where the jobs are. Whatever the need is we’re going to help that person,” said Zornow.
The pantry is staffed by volunteers and supported totally by donations. It does not receive any local, state, or federal government funding. The money raised goes toward purchasing food from the Second Harvest Food Bank of Middle Tennessee for the distribution.
“This effort is 100% volunteer driven and a community affair and we encourage more churches, businesses, organizations to join us,” said Zornow.