Mary Cottrell

By ALLISON SELK

Shaw Media correspondent

Twenty-two years ago, 10-year-old Mary Cottrell began volunteering at St. John the Baptist Catholic Church Food Pantry as a thank-you for the food her single-parent household received.

Cottrell’s mother, Cheryl, said after her divorce, she attended nursing school and worked, and the church brought food for the family. The church sacraments told the children to volunteer, so Cheryl encouraged her children to volunteer at the food pantry to give back. Cottrell stuck with it.

“At 10 years old, I was the youngest volunteer. I stocked shelves, swept and cleaned,” Cottrell said. “I was able to walk there, it was a block away, until I turned 16 and could drive.”

Cottrell kept with the food pantry all of these years because the clientele and volunteers became family to her, a close unit with whom she grew up over the past 22 years.

Six years ago, Cottrell took over the title as director. Even though she has a full-time job as a social worker, she takes time each Monday to pass out food and gives her personal time during the week for behind-the-scenes work.

“There isn’t a job in the pantry I haven’t done,” Cottrell said.

Cottrell said the community around the pantry supports its neighbors, something she hopes remains even throughout the pandemic, which hit the area hard. She said the pantry supports 1,500 people (300-400 families per month). The needs change with the seasons, so she has to be on top of the trends when she orders food.

Since she grew up near St. John’s, Cottrell understands the clients and strives to find ways to best serve them. Some do not have refrigeration because of the high electricity cost, so instead of fresh foods that can spoil quickly, she orders those clients nonperishables and offers recipes on how to use those products.

During the pandemic, Cottrell said, “I had to redo the entire system eight times — it gave me heart palpitations. Some of the older volunteers left, some stayed, but they all said, ‘If we are going down, we are going down with you, Mary.’”

Two years ago, Pam Tezak became a volunteer at the food pantry after her father and former volunteer, George Block, passed away. She and her brothers filled their father’s shoes at the pantry, where she met Mary.

“The girl is unbelievable. Between social work, running and buying for the food pantry, she knows all of the people by name when they come to get food,” Tezak said. “She is handson, it’s unbelievable how this girl works.”

Tezak described Cottrell as caring and compassionate.

“She always goes the extra mile to help everybody. When my dad was sick, she made a point to visit him, and call my mom to see if she needed anything. She still calls periodically to see how my mom is doing.”

Cottrell said she plans to stay with the food pantry and hopes volunteers and clients continue to come to St. John’s food pantry. She hopes for the return of the volunteers who left due to the pandemic. She has a mission to keep her neighborhood family fed.

“Hunger will never go away, no matter what we do,” Cottrell said. “We just hope people can continue to give back.”