Fighting hunger sometimes means handing a box of food to neighbors. But sometimes, it means investing in something behind the scenes—like a new shelf, a refrigerator, a storage bin, or even a repaired water line.
Through an ongoing partnership with Food Lion Feeds and The Great Pantry Makeover, Feeding America, Kentucky’s Heartland was able to do just that for three of its partner agencies in Barren and Christian counties through this year’s grant, helping strengthen the organizations that serve their communities every day.
This year’s recipients were the Boys & Girls Club of Glasgow in Barren County, Caverna School Pantry in Barren/Hart Counties, and Impact Ministry in Christian County.
Earlier this year, the Boys and Girls Club of Glasgow experienced a water main break. Because they serve families throughout Barren County through a variety of programs—including a food pantry for children and their families—the repair was essential to maintaining the organization’s ability to serve the community. Grant funding allowed them to address the water main repair, helping ensure that the organization could continue providing its programs and services to local families.
Caverna School District serves students in parts of Barren and Hart Counties; and its school pantry provides food assistance, including a monthly food distribution. They used their grant funding to make improvements to its pantry, including purchasing shelving, storage bins, cold storage units, pantry signage and facility renovation such as paint, flooring, and electrical work. These improvements will allow Caverna to make better use of its available space, safely store more food, and create a more efficient environment for volunteers and neighbors.
“The Great Pantry Makeover is a phenomenal blessing for us.” says Caverna School District’s FRYSC Director Terry Smith. “It’s allowed us to purchase more shelving. It’s allowed us to purchase more basic supplies that we needed for our pantry. And we were able to better serve families this way.”
For Impact Ministry, a food and clothing ministry that serves its community through distributions every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, the grant provided an opportunity to make significant improvements to its pantry space. The organization used its funding to purchase items including shelving, cold storage, paint, and even language translator devices to improve the functionality and organization of its pantry.
The new shelving and storage solutions allow Impact Ministry to store food more safely and efficiently while creating a safe, calm environment for volunteers and neighbors.
While reflecting on the impact of the grant, Executive Director of Impact Ministry Buddy Slaughter mentioned that after COVID, they had to cut their operating budget in half. Due to rising costs, they never returned to their pre-Covid budget.
“It’s confidence and partners like [Feeding America, Kentucky’s Heartland] that come alongside us to help us do what we do” says Buddy Slaughter. “And then, it instills a sense of pride. And the volunteers that come in and like, ‘hey, you know guys, look, this is our facility’.”
While each agency used the funding differently, the goal was the same: to strengthen the organizations that are working every day to fight hunger and support their communities.
The impact of this partnership went beyond financial support. As part of this year’s project, Food Lion also donated thousands of pounds of shelf-stable food to each agency, and staff from local stores rolled up their sleeves to help. Whether it was stocking shelves, installing a freezer, or painting walls, volunteers put their passion into action.
Fighting hunger takes more than food and no one agency can solve it. It takes strong community partnerships and organizations. The Great Pantry Makeover is an example of what can happen when those pieces come together.
