Westview Presbyterian Church’s Round Pantry has been helping people who are food insecure since before and throughout the pandemic. Through a recently awarded $45,000 grant from the Food Pantry Assistance Grant Program, the pantry will now be able to deliver much-needed protein and produce to Longmont residents.
The Round Pantry has an 11-year history in Longmont. Prior to the pandemic, the pantry was serving an average of 360 people a day on the second and fourth Tuesdays of each month. After the pandemic hit, those numbers quadrupled.
Pivoting from a grocery store model to pre-boxed allocations, the Round Pantry continued service to its clients without missing a distribution, said Susan Bunic, webmaster and pantry volunteer. The food boxes are placed in the trunks of cars that now line up, sometimes blocks away, for the twice-monthly distribution.
Additionally, people who go through the pantry line are encouraged to take a box for a friend, neighbor, family member or anyone else who might also need the help, said pantry volunteer Vickie Kintzel. TThe pantry does not have any requirements to receive food.
After seeing a newspaper article about a deadline change for the Food Pantry Assistance Grant Program, volunteers Bunic, Kintzel and coordinator Nancy Hurianek over the course of three days hurried to beat the fast-approaching application deadline.
On Jan. 23, the Round Panty is among 150 statewide grantees and will receive $45,000 to supplement protein and produce needs in the community. The funds are limited to purchases from Colorado vendors and have to be used by June, Kintzel said.
“It is unpredictable what will be available from one food share to the next. With the grant we will be able to have protein for sure,” she said.
The Round Pantry works with Community Food Share to get food supplies it needs. Community Food Share gives what it has available at the time but that doesn’t always include protein, Kintzel said. The pantry has purchased canned meats, tuna and other sources of supplemental protein for clients when it needed to, she said.
“We decided what we needed to do for folks was produce and protein. For the people coming through the line, the things that they comment on are that their budget doesn’t go to produce, their budget doesn’t go to having oranges or apples or anything other than potatoes and carrots. When they occasionally get a really nice piece of meat … for a family that is a really nice meal. And for a lot of folks, they are having a really hard time right now,” Kintzel said.
Among those that rely on the pantry is 81-year-old Longmont resident Charlene Smith. Smith lost her husband in April and suddenly lost half of her income. Her daughter, Jeanine Barnes, a Round Pantry volunteer until the pandemic, said her mother constantly worries about food, especially when a winter storm is expected.
The pantry supplies enough food for Smith to live frugally. With a fixed income, being cautious about COVID and a reluctance to drive, Smith does not go shopping often. She is able to portion out the supplies to last until the next pantry distribution.
“She is one of those people that if she doesn’t really have it on hand, it isn’t something she is going to go buy. Knowing she is going to get (protein and produce) at the pantry makes me feel better because she is going to eat better,” Barnes said.
Amber Snyder, a 43-year-old Longmont resident, has been a longtime client at the Round Pantry.
Snyder has depended on the Round Pantry since it opened. At one time, six members of her family lived in her household and food was not always affordable, she said.
Now her household consists of just her and her son.
Snyder has a disability that only allows her to work part time. With the cost of rent in Longmont, she said it is difficult to be able to buy enough food for even just the two of them.
“The pantry supplemented a lot of our food budget every month because we were one of those (families) … that don’t qualify for food stamps,” she said. “The food pantry supplements nearly 50% of our food and has for years.”
Snyder expressed excitement about the possibility of adding more and better protein and produce options to her diet.
“It helps a lot because that kind of stuff is expensive to get. Even if it is not for a full meal, it supplements a lot of the costs for a meal,” she said.
Snyder said she is hoping the pantry will be able to provide things like chicken and cuts of meat, as well as fresher produce since what is usually passed out is produce that grocery stores can’t sell.
“It is all still usable but it would be nice to get different stuff, too, if they have the money to do so,” Snyder said.
According to the Community Food Share website, “34,000 people in our service area are struggling with hunger, including 7,300 children. That’s 9% of our neighbors.” The funds from the Food Pantry Assistance Grant Program will stay in Longmont, assisting local residents and businesses. The Round Pantry hasn’t yet formed a plan for spending the grant funds, however, the research into local vendors is well underway.
Correction: The Round Pantry distributes food twice a month, not twice a week. A correction has also been made to Nancy Hurianek's name.
