Sanpete Pantry reviews 2017 achievements | Sanpete County News ... - Daily Herald

Sanpete Pantry reviews 2017 achievements | Sanpete County News ... - Daily Herald

EPHRAIM — Sanpete Pantry reviewed the past year’s events and outlook for 2018 during the first mayors and commissioners meeting of the New Year held at Snow College Jan. 11.

Financial report

From a financial viewpoint the Pantry is in good shape. It began 2017 with $29,723.08 and after a pending reimbursement from Utah State is received their funding will show an increase of $3,493.61 over 2016.

Major events

Events of the past year include vehicle problems, cardboard recycling, parking lot issues, freezer and cooling concerns, funding drives and office needs.

In 2016 the Pantry workhorse truck failed and a long term replacement was sought. In March 2017, with a loan from Wells Fargo, the Pantry was able to purchase a Freightliner truck for $15,000. The Pantry contributed $3,500 and with help from the state in the amount of $12,000 the truck has been paid off.

The cardboard recycling program has been successful, in that the baler has been a good investment. It has been paid for and the recycling has brought in over $8,000 to help fund operations.

The price received for bundled cardboard has varied from as little as $50 to $150 per ton. The recycling operation has collected between 4,000 to 6,000 pounds of cardboard per week, or a total of over 170,000 pounds which otherwise would have ended up at the landfill.

The parking lot at the pantry has been unsafe and small, but with the help of Sanpete County a Community Development Block Grant was applied for and received. The parking lot repair and expansion will cost $126,000, of which the pantry must provide $15,000. The state will reimburse $5,000 of the pantry’s share. Construction is expected to begin this spring.

There has been a need for a walk-in freezer and upgrades to the HVAC systems at the pantry. The state has agreed to provide funds of about $39,000 to complete those upgrades in 2018.

The pantry purchased a laptop computer and horizontal freezer, both purchases were entirely reimbursed by funding from the Emergency Food Network and the Emergency Food and Shelter Program contributed $3,200 toward food purchases.

The pantry’s portable storage container will be moved to the rear of the building and support footings were installed.

Clients served

During the past year the Sanpete Pantry has been helping about 265 families per month with food needs, however the number of families served has been dropping and the pantry staff have not yet identified why.

At the same time the pantry has been delivering 350 Kid Packs per month. This number is up over 2016, which was 230 per month.

The pantry makes 92 home deliveries per month, with an overall average of 27,000 pounds of food distributed per month from the program.

Pantry partners

There are many organizations that have partnered with the pantry for many different purposes in the help of those in need. Franz Bakery, for instance, provides breads. Utah Food Bank delivers pallets of food to the pantry three times per month.

Community Action helps the pantry in many ways, not just with food. In addition all the community grocery stores have assisted in different ways. The pantry continues to pick up from Walmart, though their figures have dropped by more than half.

A fundraising partner is the Drive4Food organization, which has organized fun fund raising events and activities, including golfing events, fun runs and ATV rides. During 2017 Drive4Food raised and donated $14,911.47 to the pantry.