The food pantry of Greene County will be moving in the coming years from its current location next to Domino’s pizza to the house behind the courthouse in Stanardsville.
Feeding Greene, located at 41A Ford Ave. in Stanardsville, purchased the property located behind the courthouse in August. Construction on its new building at 60 Stanard St. will begin once the current building, built in the 1940s, is demolished.
“We’re hoping to have at least a 3,000 square-foot building,” Feeding Greene Director Rhonda Oliver said. “It will have a storefront where families can shop for their food, and then it’ll have a back area for storage. It will also have a dropoff area for loading and unloading food, an office space and small kitchenette.”
Its current location has no office space and only one door to serve customers, volunteers and deliveries coming in and out.
“This started out as a ministry of Stanardsville Baptist Church, and it outgrew the church. It’s outgrown the space we’re in. Space has always been a problem, and we’re hoping to solve that,” Oliver said.
The newly acquired property used to be home to the Greene County Farm Bureau office, which moved to a new building on U.S. Route 33 in 2006, according to Feeding Greene’s Chairman Joanne Burkholder.
Burkholder says they owe all the credit to Earl Wayne Powell, who sold the property to Feeding Greene.
“We would like to thank Mr. Powell for believing in us, working with us and giving money back to us to make this possible,” she said. “Mr. Powell was wonderful to work with.”
Feeding Greene is funded by the community and run entirely by volunteers. No volunteers get compensation, and the group does not receive any state or federal funding.
The pantry began as a Women on Mission United outreach at Stanardsville Baptist Church in 1995 before becoming its own entity in 2011. It currently serves between 150-200 families each month.
“The relocating will make a major difference in what the food pantry can do. It will be able to serve the clients more effectively and efficiently. We’ll be like a lighthouse in the neighborhood as a way that the people will know this is a place to come, and we will be a place that lifts up their dignity and self-respect,” David Morris, outgoing director for the group, said.
Oliver said the group has applied for the Neighborhood Assistance Program credit which would allow the group to accept donations from $500-$10,000, and those who donate would receive 65 percent back in Virginia income tax. The group won’t be notified until July 1, 2019 if they’re approved, but Oliver notes that they’ll have a better chance of getting the credit if people pledge to donate beforehand.
Feeding Greene welcomes volunteers, monetary donations and canned goods.
The food pantry is open Tuesdays and Thursdays from 10 a.m. - noon and the third Wednesday of the month from 4-6 p.m.
