By Stephen Smoot
Almost as the crow flies, one has to drive 30 hours to get from Salt Lake City, Utah to Petersburg, West Virginia.
On Monday, 30,000 pounds of food came by truck from Utah to Petersburg, by way of Winchester, Virginia. They shipped the vital victuals from the Bishop’s Central Storehouse in Utah’s state capital by truck.
RCS Trucking in Petersburg graciously allowed their facility to be used for the off-loading.
“The needs have gone way up,” shared Melinda Topham, a communications director with the Winchester Stake of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. She added that “The president of the Interfaith Pantry has doubled the number of families that they serve.”
Said Wanda Myers, President of the Interfaith Pantry, “we serve at least 25 to 45 families a week.” She added that at Christmas last year, that number leapt to 52 families bringing approximately 150 people in need.
“We don’t want anyone to go hungry,” shared Myers.
The donation came from the Bishop’s Central Storehouse in Salt lake City, Utah. This serves as the hub of Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints food donation program that reaches people and organizations around the nation and the globe.
Topham explained that devout members of the faith fast frequently. They also estimate how much money they would have spent on food were they not fasting and donate it to the food program.
Additionally, donations go to organizations who feed those in need. One need not be an active member of any church or worship in a particular faith. “We love to give to those in need,” explained Topham.
The Interfaith Pantry in Petersburg connected to the donation opportunity through a website called JustServe.org . This site, run by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, connects those who can give, whether it be volunteer time, money, or other items, with those in need.
Keeta Hammond from JustServe, explained that “what we do is help organizations, non profits, government entities.” Those that need volunteers or other help, or wish to provide service, can both sign up for the site. It then works to connect people to opportunities not unlike Indeed with employment.
“It’s free. Everyone can go on,” said Hammond.
Some examples of charitable connections on the site include volunteering to help repurpose glasses donated to the Lions Club for those who cannot afford them. In another case, an organization gathered donated clothing for children in foster care.
Some areas have few person-to-person volunteer opportunities, but a number of nationwide remote volunteer needs exist. Hammond shared that in some cases, people have knitted items for others.
The site has 165,000 projects that need help with the list updated daily. Meanwhile, the 18 pallets of food brought to Grant County will go far to help those facing the worst struggles.
