FOOD PANTRIES, FARMERS AND ORDINARY PEOPLE TACKLE HUNGER

Making The Difference For Those In Need In Southeastern Utah

Written by Sharon Sullivan

Photos by Murice D. Miller

MOAB SCHOOLTEACHER SARAH HENDERSON KNEW STUDENTS WERE HUNGRY AND SO SHE’D PASS OUT SNACKS IN HER CLASS AND AFTER SCHOOL. SOME KIDS WOULD HOARD THE SNACKS IN THEIR BACKPACKS, SHE NOTICED. THEN, ONE DAY IN THE LUNCHROOM SHE SAW CHILDREN ASKING THEIR PEERS FOR THE UNEATEN FOOD ON THEIR LUNCH TRAYS. IF IT WAS GIVEN TO THEM, THEY’D PUT THE FOOD IN THEIR POCKETS FOR LATER. ANOTHER STUDENT SALVAGED FOOD FROM THE TRASH, THAT HE’D THEN STASH IN HIS COAT.

That’s when she decided to use her own money to establish a food pantry at Helen M. Knight Elementary (HMK). To keep the pantry going she held a schoolwide food drive, advertised in a local newspaper, and sent flyers home with students. Various organizations like Rally on the Rocks, Synergy Corporation, and the Southeastern Utah Chapter Association of Realtors, plus a number of parents and personal donors contributed to the food pantry.

Each Friday during the school year HMK students identified as food insecure are given a personal food bag containing non-perishable food items like canned pasta, soup, and veggies; boxes of instant macaroni and cheese, granola bars, and fruit cups – items kids can manage themselves, Henderson says.

Local Food Pantries

Other community food pantries in Moab – the Grand County Food Bank (GCFB), plus food pantries at the Moab Valley Multicultural Center (MVMC), and St. Francis Episcopal Church – help residents meet their nutritional needs throughout the year.

The GCFB, under the umbrella of the Southeast Utah Association of Local Governments, is open Tuesdays and Thursdays from 10 a.m. to noon at 56 N. 200 East. Clients can come pick up food once a month, during either of two distribution days held weekly. The allotment is big, says Miriam Graham, one of two GCFB coordinators. Clients receive a box of dried foods, plus a box of perishable goods, as well as a “goodie” bag with miscellaneous items. The food bank also provides emergency food boxes when needed.

“Many of our clients are working; but they don’t make enough to cover expenses,” Graham says. “Many are older individuals whose only income source is social security. Food is so expensive.”

She says the number of people applying to receive food from the pantry has increased in the past year, adding that seldom does someone not qualify based on income. (The MVMC and the Episcopal church pantries do not have eligibility requirements). Each of the food pantries in town refer to one another to help fill people’s nutritional needs.

Graham says she’s grateful for the newly operational Moab Area Transit bus system that makes it easier for clients to access the groceries. “Some of our clients are without cars, or their vehicles are broken,” she says. However, “The bus system has been really good for people.”

The pantry run by the Moab Valley Multicultural Center (MVMC), 156 N. 100 West, is accessible during the center’s business hours. During the summer that’s Monday, Tuesday and Thursday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. (except noon-1 p.m., when closed for lunch), Wednesdays 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. (closed noon to 2:30 p.m.), and Fridays, 9 a.m. to noon.

Although seasonal unemployment benefits exist for workers who are laid off during the winter, that doesn’t help “the portion of Moab’s workforce that are undocumented immigrants,” who are not eligible for the benefits, says MVMC community coordinator Molly Clark.

The MVMC food bank is also busy in the summer when there’s an influx of Native Americans from nearby reservations, including Navajo, Ute and Hopi, who come to work during Moab’s busy tourist season, Clarks says. “Many of them are living outside, or in crowded living situations,” she says. The MVMC serves many Anglo clients, too, including people on fixed incomes, and those who are disabled. “We’re here to serve all – no matter what your identity is. We want people to feel welcome.”

The MVMC receives grant funding to purchase basic staples from the local City Market store. Food boxes are typically filled with beans, canned veggies, tuna or chicken, eggs, peanut butter, bread, and, in the summer, fresh produce from three farms – Easy Bee, Our Village, and Youth Garden Project, Clark says. There’s also a miscellaneous shelf with donated food from which people can choose to add to their boxes. Additionally, The Synergy Company in Moab donates vitamins, which help fill some people’s nutritional gaps, Clark says.

When unfamiliar types of produce are donated, staff members try to give ideas on how to prepare it, she says. Clark recalls one woman with kids who was particularly grateful to receive fresh veggies, and after being given kohlrabi said she would take it home and Google how to use it.

The MVMC food pantry serves Moab and the surrounding rural areas, including La Sal, Green River, and Monticello.

Annie Thomas, Executive Director of the nonprofit community center, Our Village Moab, acquired a two-year grant worth $170,000 from the Utah Department of Health and Services to purchase produce from local farmers that she then distributes to the MVMC food pantry and the St. Francis Episcopal Church food pantry. She also gives food to the Arches New Hope Pregnancy Center. Our Village was one of four recipients statewide – and the only one in the region to receive the grant addressing food insecurity, says Thomas.

Thomas also purchased seven CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) shares from Easy Bee Farms that she splits up to distribute at a weekly Free Market for 36 individuals in need of food assistance.

The Episcopal Church pantry, at 250 Kane Creek Blvd, currently serves 250 people each week, though that number grows to nearly 400 in the wintertime, says Pastor Dave Sakrison. Anyone can come; there’s no questions asked. “There’s a definite need,” he says. “We get a lot of transient workers during the tourist season. They don’t get paid a lot of money. It’s a varied community demographically. Food prices are high now.” The pantry is open Fridays, 5-6:30 p.m. during the summer and 4-6 p.m. in the winter.

Free Lunch

Additionally, St. Francis partners with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints to serve free lunches on Thursdays, 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Members of both churches prepare several soups each week, served with bread, drinks and dessert purchased by the Episcopal church. Approximately 60-70 people from all walks of life come for the meals each week, Sakrison says.

“People come up and request what they want and we package it up to-go,” he says. Some people take it home, while others eat lunch at one of the picnic tables outside on church property. People come from all walks of life, he says.

Moab resident Winford “Win” Bludworth comes each week to collect a dozen or so soups to deliver to various homeless individuals he’s acquainted with around town. On a particular day in June, the soup choices were chicken noodle, veggie minestrone with beans, veggie beef, and spicy pork. He says he “has a heart for the unhoused” after experiencing a bout of homelessness himself 10 years ago.

Some people who are unhoused are lonely and really need someone to talk to, he says. “Bringing soup to people is an icebreaker [that helps] in getting to know them,” he explains. “People are people, and deserving of respect.” Inside his vehicle he keeps hygiene products, food, and mosquito spray to give away to those who need such items.

Bludworth also delivers soup to people living in subsidized housing that lack their own transportation. If there’s any soup leftover, he brings it to volunteers working at the nonprofit WabiWabi thrift store, he says.

The Utah Food Bank (UFB) in Salt Lake City delivers nonperishable foods each week to St. Francis Episcopal Church, and to the Grand County Food Bank. The UFB additionally provides food for the Grand County Public Library’s afterschool kids meal program.

Occasionally, Moab residents add to local food pantries by dropping off their excess garden produce. Graham mentions a client who donated bagged up cherries from his tree. “People give back what they have,” she says. A local river guiding company sometimes donates food to the county food bank at the end of their season, she adds.

Last year the Utah Food Bank distributed 184,008 pounds of food in Grand County, says UFB president and CEO Ginette Bott. “In Grand County, 13.4% of the population is challenged with food insecurity – meaning they don’t know where their next meal is coming from,” she says.

In San Juan County, 26% of the population is food insecure. The UFB delivers food to 230 pantries across the state.

Thomas is hoping to expand her food assistance program outside of Moab, and is currently looking for farmers in the Blanding area from whom she can purchase produce to give to those in need. Supporting local farmers to help feed the underserved population benefits everyone, she says. n

For more information on ways to help, contact the Grand County Food Bank at (435) 259-6456 or the Utah Food Bank at (801) 978-2453.