Lending a Helping Hand

The Carroll County Food Pantry — a group of dedicated volunteers representing 11 local businesses, churches, charities and organizations — has been feeding the county’s families and individuals in need for more than 40 years, with distributions three days a week.

Located at 113 Third Street, the Carroll County Food Pantry is a non-profit organization run solely by volunteers who work to provide food for all of those in the community who are in need. The various volunteers and groups staff the office from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays for regular food distributions as well as staffing federal commodities distributions for senior citizens and families in need the third Wednesday of each month.

“We have tried to be a helping hand to those in need whether because they have lost their jobs or they have illness in the family and are having to use money to pay for medicine or because with expenses for housing and electricity they just don’t have enough food to feed people in their household,” said Ruth Baxter, pantry treasurer and one of the volunteers.

Baxter said the pantry averages feeding five to 10 families weekly and during the week of March 18 provided food to 109 seniors and served 112 families on that Wednesday afternoon.

“We do not have income requirements for the Monday, Wednesday, Friday food program,” Baxter said. “We just ask you to verify that you have a need for the food.”

The county’s Federal Commodities Program for senior citizens and families takes place on the third Wednesday of each month. To participate in the commodities programs, clients must meet specific qualifications based on household income that change yearly.

For the senior commodities, the qualified income for one person is a gross monthly income of $1,632 or less. If a senior has more than one person in the household, the gross monthly income increases to $2,215, said Baxter.

She said a family of four can receive commodities if they have annual gross income of $40,000 or less but if they have additional members in their family they can add another $583 per month to the household income and still qualify.

Those seeking senior commodities can visit in advance to present their qualifying information or fill out a form from volunteer Carolyn Jones any third Wednesday of the month from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

For the county-wide commodities program, residents need only show up at the food pantry and present their Carroll County ID between 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. on the third Wednesday of each month.

“We have approximately 20 volunteers,” Baxter said, adding the list ranges from students at the iLead Academy to employees at the Carroll County Road Department who assist by picking up food from a warehouse in Northern Kentucky, trucking the food to Carrollton, unloading it, boxing it, and then handing out the boxes of food to those who qualify on that third Wednesday.

The organization also draws volunteers from numerous churches in Carroll County from English Christian Church to St. John’s Catholic Church, First Baptist Church, and more. They also work with organizations such as the Carroll County Homemakers Extension Association.

The organization survives solely on financial contributions and food donations. “It costs us approximately $35,000 a year to stay in operation,” Baxter noted. “We have been successful in getting a grant from United Charities for the last couple of years for about $8,000 to $10,000 a year to help buy food.”

They organization is always grateful for any contributions. While the county’s need for food support can rise and fall, it never goes away so the mission to help Carroll County residents is one that never ends.

Baxter said some people will make memorials to loved ones in the form of donations to the pantry in their memory. “When a person passes, we appreciate the food pantry being designated as a memorial for their loved one,” she said.

The organization also hosts several fundraising events annually. One of the most well-known events is the annual Thanksgiving Food Drive, which takes place the week before Thanksgiving. During that event alone the pantry has taken in more than 20,000 foods items just from the Carroll County schools.

Another event is the Stuff the Cruiser food donation that takes place the Saturday before Thanksgiving. During that event, a police cruiser is parked outside the Kroger or Walmart groceries and shoppers are asked to purchase and place an food item inside the cruiser in an effort to fill the vehicle with donations for the pantry.

Baxter encourages others to become involved in the food pantry either by donating or volunteering. She said it’s a way of using a little spare time to make an impact on others.

“I wouldn’t have been with it over 40 years if I didn’t think it was important to have this service to people of our community in need,” she said.