As demand increases, local food pantry moves to larger quarters

By Kate Bassett
Harbor Light Newspaper

Living in northern Michigan, the word “community” carries some heavy weight. When it is used, terms like natural beauty, bountiful clean waters and open spaces local merchants and small town charm often follow. And while these things are a vital part of life up north, they are the draw—not the pulse—of the community. The true fabric that binds us together comes in the form of smiles and generous hearts, of understanding silence and a feeling of family.

The story of the Harbor Springs Community Food Pantry—which just this week moved from the United Methodist Church of Harbor Springs to a larger space in Holy Childhood’s new community center—embodies everything that true community means.

“This pantry works as well as it does because the people in our town care,” said Carolyn Sandford, a volunteer with the pantry, during an interview at a downtown Harbor Springs coffee shop recently.”

From the volunteers who show up every week with grins and laughter and love to the businesses, churches, organizations, school groups and individuals who donate food and money for food, there has never been a need that we have had to leave unfilled. That is truly amazing.”

The food pantry began modestly in the late 1970s, when Tru Cummings and a group of men from the Methodist Church began a small-scale food collection and redistribution pantry in the basement of the church.

“They had people bring in their extras, like potatoes, and then anyone who needed food could stop by and pick up whatever was available. Those men worked the pantry for 20 years, and when they were all growing older, the Holy Childhood missions committee stepped in and also offered to help,” Sanford said.

As the pantry—and community needs—continued to grow, volunteers began working toward non-profit status, and in 2006, the Harbor Springs Food Pantry became a 501-c3 non-profit organization. Although it is not affiliated with any religious organization, the pantry did stay at the Methodist Church until numbers simply overwhelmed the space.

“The beginnings of the food pantry were relatively simple. When it started, having 35 families come through was huge. Two weeks ago, we had 98 families,” Sandford said.

She paused, cupping her hands around her coffee and looking out the window at snow falling silently onto Main Street.

“That isn’t a number we’re happy to report. We don’t want to set records. We don’t want people to be struggling. But things aren’t good for a lot of people right now, and what we do want is to make sure we are here to help.”

Sandford said the food pantry began thinking about a new space after the summer of 2008, because the normal dip in summer numbers— because employment rates are higher—did not happen. In fact, the number of people using the pantry grew, and has consistently remained high ever since.

“We knew something was happening,” she said. “The community responded by making sure there was enough food. The Methodist Church has been wonderful, allowing us every inch of storage space, plus use of their nursery, kitchen, fridge and freezer. The reality was clear, however; we simply had to have more space.”

In addition to the increased demand the pantry has faced in recent years, another reason for making the move came on behalf of the volunteers. Sandford said that every single person—regardless of age or capability—that receives food from the pantry has their groceries carried to their car by volunteers. While the volunteers themselves are “more than happy” to perform this task, Sanford said having to climb stairs with heavy bags was taxing.

“Every family that comes in gets their groceries carried out, and that usually takes about three trips with armloads of bagged and boxed goods. We feel like it is an imperative service. We want people to have a time when they feel as valued and are treated with the kind of goodness they deserve.

“That being said, we do have some older volunteers. No one ever complains, but we know having to carry food in from Manna (the local food bank—a lack of space required volunteers to often collect food just before the pantry opened) and then carry it back out for our patrons, well, it is physically straining.”

As grateful as the pantry, as an organization, is for “the beautiful, warm, and well-loved” space, and as “generous and dedicated” as the Methodist Church has been for 30-plus years, Sandford said it was becoming increasingly obvious that the needs no longer matched well with the pantry’s current location.

Just as these concerns were growing, Father Joe Graff, the priest at Holy Childhood Church in Harbor Springs, called to offer the food pantry space in the lower level of the church’s new community center.

“We knew it was the right move, because we will now not only have the space we need to serve people, we also will be able to use an elevator to get groceries to cars, and that will be a huge relief for our volunteers,” Sandford said.

She said once the decision to move was made, the next step was determining how to fund finishing off the Holy Childhood space to meet the pantry’s needs.

“We were immediately very clear that we would not use any money that had been donated to us for the move. That money is for food, and there is no way even a dime donated to us will ever go for anything else.”

Instead, pantry volunteers began exploring outside funding sources like grant money in order to do the work needed to create a new pantry.

“Costs entailed things like painting, purchasing pallets, buying an industrial-size refridgerater and freezer, and so on,” Sandford said. “So we began working with various foundations and with great success, were able to gather to money we needed.”

In addition to grants from the Frey, Baiardi, Offield, and Petoskey-Harbor Springs Community Foundations, local businesses like Evening Star Joinery, MacGregor Plumbing and Squier Electric helped come in and finish the pantry—which was transformed from bare, unfinished walls to a painted space with shelving, work counters, a sink and refrigeration.

“And it goes even beyond that,” Sandford said with a wide smile. “It is so humbling to see the way people have jumped at the chance to help make this happen. We had a Boy Scout, Zachary Gorman, build all the shelving as part of his Eagle Scout project.

“We had folks from Walstrom Marine, Irish Boat Shop, and the Outfitter all set and ready to help us move food and equipment, and then, with an impending snowstorm, ended up having St. Francis Xavier Troop 7 Boy Scouts do the move for us at the last minute. I can’t tell you what it was like to watch those kids form a human assembly line up the stairs and work together to get everything to the new pantry. It was the picture of what this community means.”

This community.

Yes, the definition of community is different here than many other towns around the country. It is about the way people rise to any challenge put forth that answers a need for others. It is about the way food drives and donations and volunteers work side by side with pantry patrons is a way that makes it impossible to tell who is taking food home and who has brought food to the pantry shelves.

The Harbor Springs Food Pantry now operates in the lower level of the Holy Childhood Community Center. The new pantry will officially open its doors on Monday morning, December 21.

This is part of the December 16, 2009 online edition of Harbor Light Newspaper.

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