Smithfield Friends Food Pantry continues to widen numbers served - The Steubenville Herald-Star

Smithfield Friends Food Pantry continues to widen numbers served - The Steubenville Herald-Star

The Smithfield Friends Church Food Pantry serves a 10-mile radius and got its start at the church in 1999. It has received funding from the United Way of Jefferson County for 10 years. Assisting at the food pantry are, from left, Don Roe, facility manager and pantry coordinator; Linda L. Mayberry, Mid-Ohio Foodbank program coordinator and agency relations in Grove City; Patty Wetherell, United Way representative and secretary; and Stan Dombroski, president. — Esther McCoy

(EDITOR’S NOTE: This is part of a series of articles featuring agencies that receive support from the United Way of Jefferson County. For information, contact the United Way office at (740) 283-9000.)

SMITHFIELD — The Smithfield Friends Church Food Pantry, 1599 Main St., has grown substantially since its beginnings in 1999, when seven families were served. Now 240 families cross the threshold of the church to help stretch their food needs for the month.

It began as a generic food pantry program, with 20 boxes monthly for those in the Smithfield area, and it has grown to approximately 100 boxes each month. The boxes are for clients who receive a pre-selected food items without a long wait, and they are given assistance if they can’t get the box or boxes to their vehicles. There also is the choice pantry, where clients can chose their groceries.

“When it first started, with Kathy Dombroski and Mary Joy Dillon as coordinators and Fred Vanderborne as facility manager in 1999, they relied on donations from local churches, grants and contributions from private donations,” Stan Dombroski, president/director, said.

“The Jefferson County United Way has been providing one-third of the funding during the past 10 years. If we didn’t have these funds, we would have to cut back on the geographical radius and/or number of households. Right now, we cover a 10-mile radius, or a bit further for those who cannot get to Steubenville for their needs,” he said.

“I serve as representative to the United Way. With their help we can do networking and plug our clients into needs that we don’t have. If they need medical or dental help, eye glasses or even additional food, the United Way can look into referrals. Stan, Don and I apply for grants too,” said Patty Wetherell, secretary.

“Patty attends the meetings each month to learn new details and she helps with the fundraising projects for the United Way. She was working at the ticket reservation desk for the (recent) Taste of the County dinner,” Dombroski said.

Don Roe serves as the facility manager and pantry coordinator. For their fundraising tasks, he and Dombroski stand at the crossroads in Smithfield for a tag day and at Wal-Mart as well.

“United Way holds a ‘Day of Action’ each September, and we participate in it. Some businesses came to our aid for this, too. Several years ago Cardinal had a team come to our church basement and refine our electrical system and build a room for storage. This year, Apollo came and cleaned the carpeting at no cost,” Dombroski said.

Linda L. Mayberry, Mid-Ohio Foodbank program coordinator and agency relations from Grove City, was present at the October generic box distribution. A member of the group for Feeding America, she informs, inspects and observes the work of the 35 volunteers and even stepped in to fill more than 100 bread bags to lend a hand.

The liaison with the Columbus-based program, Mayberry, said pantries must abide by food bank criteria. “I cover six mideast counties, and the Smithfield pantry is one that always does a great job,” she said.

“Of the 16 food pantries in the county, Linda always stays to have lunch with us,” Dombroski said.

“We get $3,800 per month for the pantry, with 90 percent of the products coming from the Mid-Ohio Foodbank. We also buy food from Kroger, Wal-Mart and Riesbecks. Nickles gives us bread at wholesale and Don found an excellent price for eggs at Wal-Mart,” the director said.

Roe and Dombroski both agreed the hardest part is getting enough of each product to last throughout the long food line.

“We have run out of certain things at times. With produce, you have to give them either a choice of one vegetable or fruit to keep enough until the end,” Wetherell said.

“I work with the judges to get community service people to help us out. Judges David Scarpone and Lisa Ferguson provide us with workers to do their hours. In the summer, we get teens and Boy Scouts to help,” Roe said.

Other services provided at the Smithfield facility are Trinity Health System’s unit for blood sugar, oxygen levels and blood pressure checks as well as flu shots. There is a selection of free used clothing from May through October and referrals to other Jefferson County United Way agencies.

The generic box distribution is held the second Wednesday of each month from 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.; choice pantry, second Thursday of each month, 8:30 a.m to 2 p.m.; and produce distribution every Wednesday, 8 a.m.

“The Lord has his hand in this. It is a blessed ministry,” Wetherell said.

(McCoy can be contacted at emccoy@heraldstaronline.com.)