Bement Food Pantry Thankful For FCCLA

Bement FCCLA who were collecting donations for the Bement Food Pantry.

By Jody Shonkwiler
Staff Writer

The Bement Food Pantry receives donations collected from the school’s FCCLA Food Drive every year.

This year, however, the donations received on November 13 were overwhelming.

Students collected around 1400 items. FCCLA teacher Angie Corum coordinated the food drive. She recruited around forty students to volunteer. They drove all over Bement, Milmine, & Ivesdale picking up non-perishable food to give to the pantry.

Once the students returned to the church, they sorted, counted, and did the heavy work getting the items to the respective volunteers. Once their part of the food drive was done, they were treated to a well-deserved pizza party hosted by Mama T’s Pizza.

Pantry volunteers spent hours checking expiration dates, sorting, and stocking shelves. The former sparce shelves are now overflowing. There was barely enough space to hold the amount of food collected, a good problem to have. This abundance of food will enable the pantry to provide the community with much-needed food for the holidays and beyond.

The Bement Christian Church opened their doors several years ago as a place to house the food pantry. Amy Fair, Food Pantry Director, lined up numerous volunteers and coordinated the pantry’s aspect of this year’s drive. As the director, Amy volunteers countless hours every week ensuring that things run smoothly every Thursday and that the shelves are fully stocked.

The food pantry is open for pickup Thursdays from 9:30 AM-11:00 AM. It will be closed Thanksgiving Day. To see if you qualify, you can obtain paperwork at the church during pickup times.

The old saying, “It takes a village” certainly applies to our school district’s villages of Bement, Ivesdale, and Milmine. Residents in need will have a better holiday because of those who gave.