Twice a month, between 9 and 11 a.m., the Omaha Food Bank delivers food to First Baptist Church’s Food Pantry.
With the help of pantry volunteers and Teen Serve, an organization of homeschooled students who commit to serving during the school year, a 4,000-pound load was unloaded and organized on Friday. The load restocks the shelves for Mondays and Tuesdays when the food is distributed to people who are in need.
“We have become one of the bigger food pantries in Council Bluffs,” Teresa Hildreth, director of the pantry, said. “We want to help people and make a difference in our community, but we wouldn’t be able to do it without donations, volunteers and the community helping us.”
Hildreth has been directing the pantry for 20 years and said the pantry now feeds close to 700 people per month.
On Mondays and Tuesdays, the pantry opens on a first-come, first-serve basis between 10 a.m. and noon. While Volunteer Dee Boley processes paperwork, recipients are invited to enjoy coffee, cookies, prayers or devotion.
Boley said to receive food, recipients must bring photo identification, social security cards and an Iowa Department of Human Services Notice of Decision paper.
“How much food we give out depends on how many people are in the family,” Boley said. “After they’ve applied for food stamps, they can bring in that notice of decision paper. Even if they were denied food stamps, we still help them based on their family needs.”
After the paperwork is processed, volunteers like Richard “Charlie” Brown help fill orders. Since the pantry is free and open to the public, recipients can only use it once a month and usually receive up to a week’s worth of food.
“If someone is out of food, but has tried to come here more than once, we have to deny them,” Brown said. “I hate to turn them down, but we have to follow the rules.”
Volunteers unload the food truck regardless of weather conditions and have seen anywhere from 4,000 to 18,000 pounds delivered on any given delivery day.
With enough volunteers, Boley, Brown and Sam Irwin said the unloading is fast.
“We want to thank First Baptist Church for letting us use the basement space for the food pantry,” Irwin said. “Our pantry distributes among smaller pantries as well, it really benefits the entire city.”
