A humble 13-by-23-foot garage-like building attached to St. Philip Neri Catholic Church is home to the Reed City Area Food Pantry. Once visitors walk through the white front door and enter the pantry, they see a room chock full of items for the neighbors who turn to them for support: an upright freezer, two chest freezers, and wall-to-wall shelving loaded with pantry-stable foods, household and personal care essentials, and much more.
The Reed City Area Pantry was established 30 years ago, initially run by St. Paul Lutheran Church before being passed to the Reed City Area Ministerial Association, who retained it until four years ago. At that point, a group of community members pulled together to form the Reed City Area Food Pantry. Humphrey Vandervlugt, Diane Burk, and Dan Asmond are among the group of community members who took over the pantry and run it today with the reliable support of several community volunteers.
The core organizers and volunteers do what they can even though they have no paid staff and they are regularly run out of the most-sought item: frozen meats. Meat is costly for both pantries and households that face food insecurity.
Despite the difficulties, Humphrey, Diane, and volunteers Karen Peg and Kathy Canesca say their challenges are small compared to the challenges faced by the community members who come to them for help.
The Reed City crew runs the operation like clockwork. Humphrey orders food from Feeding America West Michigan. He also picks up the food from the food bank’s Cadillac warehouse, unloads it, stocks the shelves, and rotates the inventory, ensuring that the space is fully supplied and ready to go. Diane — the administrative backbone of the pantry — handles paperwork, verifies eligibility, and registers pantry visitors.
Diane is also in charge of enrolling and coordinating volunteers who maintain an orderly flow on the floor.
“I bring in volunteers and prepare a two-month schedule for them,” Diane said. “We always have two volunteers working at a time. Once they arrive and pantry visitors begin coming in and filling out their paperwork, the volunteers immediately start gathering and loading the groceries each individual or household needs into grocery carts. The visitor then takes the cart out to their vehicle, unloads everything, and as soon as one family leaves, the next comes in. It’s a steady flow.”
The Reed City Area Food Pantry also passes out milk vouchers that neighbors can cash in Ebel’s General Store.
The Reed City Area Food Pantry’s services are used by residents of other Osceola County communities of Hersey, Leroy, Chase, and Paris. Serving five different areas explains the 90 to 100 individuals and households that visit the pantry on the average Tuesday.
Theresa regularly turns to the Reed City pantry for support. Originally from the Metro Detroit area, Theresa moved to the area 20 years ago. Over that time, Theresa experienced financial hardship. If not for the recommendation from her friend, Theresa would have never learned of the Reed City Area Food Pantry.
“Rough times led me here,” Theresa said wearily. “I’m here by myself, I don’t work, and I didn’t know of any place where I could get assistance in the area, until a friend told me about the pantry, and when I first visited, they helped me out 100 percent. With this help, I can provide for myself. I can have a meal on the table.”
Theresa said she typically turns to the pantry only in moments of absolute necessity. On the days she visits, she is met with the same care and given the same, reliable quality of items she received the very first time she arrived.
“They’re very nice, when I come here,” said Theresa. “And the quality of the food is amazing. It’s fresh. They make sure people are eating safe and healthy foods.”
We thank the Osceola Community Foundation for ongoing support for our neighbors in Osceola County.