Hunt for new Prescott Area Food Pantry location continues - Pierce County Herald

Hunt for new Prescott Area Food Pantry location continues - Pierce County Herald

This 900-square-foot location has, once again, run out of room.

“Our space is not sufficient for the quantities of food that are being donated,” Executive Director Pete French said. “We can’t store off-premises so we’re trying to load in as much as we can and I guess I have outlets that would enable us to buy for less as we buy in larger quantities. When we ask for X-number of square footage it’s so we can bring in more food at a lower price.”

The nonprofit food pantry serves an average of 65 families each month. The pantry serves 170 income-qualifying families — about 500 individuals — though not all of them come to the food pantry every month.

“Our clientele kept increasing,” French said. “It’s still increasing. We service people who are income qualified, and probably 98 percent through no fault of their own find themselves in need. No one wants to come to a food pantry; that’s about the last thing anyone would think of as fun. I think we do a pretty good job of making people feel comfortable when they come in.”

Though he says clients are comfortable in the facility, he still thinks they could do more — especially when it comes to privacy — if they had the space.

“Our accommodations are not the best as far as privacy,” French said. “We need a separate intake room for privacy purposes. Anyone waiting to come in sits in the hall. It’s just not a good situation.”

There’s also the issue of ventilation, French said.

“Our refrigeration puts out a lot of heat, and it’s all in one big area, but it isn’t ventilated good enough,” French said. “Our average temperature gets up in the 80s if we leave the windows closed, and that’s not good for food storage.”

Though they’re still looking for a specific location, they had some hope for a location on the corner of State Highway 35 and Wacota Street.

“If we can’t do something there, we’ll keep searching,” French said. “We’re not going to go away. But some of the benefits and some of our equipment might have to go away if we can’t get a new location.”

‘Feeding the hungry, clothing the poor’

The food pantry does fund raising throughout the year, including bingo at the Prescott American Legion chicken fries, driving the hunger prevention van in the Prescott Daze parade, the occasional meat raffle and an annual donation envelope sent out with the utility bills.

“We live off of donations,” French said.

If they get enough donations, they can create “holiday boxes” for clients.

“We try and put some together,” he said. “If we get something we can put together a holiday box for Easter, Thanksgiving or Christmas.”

The food pantry also works with the school on a backpack program, to make sure kids get meals over the weekend.

“We’re just trying to do our part, feed the hungry, clothe the poor, that’s what it’s all about,” he said.

French said he’s hoping to add a thrift store to their operations when a new location can be found. It can be a place for the clients to shop, as well as becoming something that will help offset the costs, he said.

“If we had the room, it would be great to have something like that in Prescott,” he said. “There is not one in this town.”

French said it’s great when people donate, but doesn’t always know how to get the goods to their clients due to the lack of space.

“The Knights of Columbus have 50 brand new winter jackets to distribute to our clients,” he said. “How do I do that? I will, but I don’t know how. We have other organizations that want to help us; we’re here to help the people who need help.”

He’s also hoping a new location would give them room to build some community gardens.

“Maybe over in the corner some in-season farmers could have that there, and produce left over could be given to our clients,” French said.

Along with space, the Food Pantry is looking for more donations and volunteers.

“It’s tough sometimes, we could always use more volunteers,” he said, adding that the volunteers he currently has are great.

“I’ve been doing this several years, and I have some volunteers that have been here way longer than I,” he said. “They’re a good bunch of volunteers I depend on them greatly. I’m proud of the people that help us here.”

He also encourages families to see if they are qualified.

“So many people don’t know if they are or aren’t qualified,” French said. “We’ve been lucky that we’ve been able to help everyone who came through. We won’t refuse anyone.”

The Prescott Area Food Pantry is currently at 720 St., Croix St., Suite 119. It is open Thursdays 9-11:30 a.m. and 1-5:30 p.m., as well as the first Saturday of the month from  9 a.m. to noon. Call for an appointment at 715-262-4143.