The Teton Valley Food Pantry moved to a larger location just in time for the Boy Scout food drive, which brought in 4,600 pounds of food.
Sharon Froberg, the pantry coordinator, thought with the help of volunteers that it would take three Saturdays to move all the food, shelving, refrigerators, and supplies from the old location on First Street to the new Trailhead Building north of Driggs. They started moving on Oct. 20, and it ended up only taking one day.
“That wasn’t the original plan,” Froberg said. “But we had so much help from the community.”
The new pantry is 400 square feet larger than the old one, which is good news as volunteers spent Saturday organizing the wealth of food brought in by Boy Scouts and Cub Scouts who had fanned out through the valley and collected food. Froberg said the drive is always big, but this year’s bounty was even bigger than usual. Food trickles in through the week and she’s sure the pantry will hit 5,000 pounds of food by the weekend.
“The people in this valley are amazing,” she said with feeling.
The pantry is now located in the same building as the Community Resource Center and the Hispanic Resource Center, which Froberg said is ideal. Even when pantry workers can’t respond in time to a client with a food emergency, employees from the CRC or HRC can help out.
“It’s great having these nonprofits close together,” Froberg said. “The more we can coordinate our services, the better.”
The last few organizational elements are still falling into place. Froberg is bringing another heavy duty shelving unit from her house, and the Teton Valley Hospital is donating another refrigerator, which is necessary especially in the summer when Cosmic Apple donates an impressive three shares per week of organic produce to the pantry.
Food drop bins for non-perishable foods are located at Broulim’s, Victor Valley Market, Barrels & Bins and at the pantry. Perishable foods may be dropped off on Tuesdays from 12 to 1 pm. Food distributions happen on the first and third Wednesday of every month, and senior distributions happen on the first Tuesday. The mobile food pantry is at the Driggs LDS Stake Center on the fourth Tuesday of each month.
The details are being ironed out, but clients and donors can expect extended hours at the pantry in the future. Visit www.tvfoodpantry.com for more information.
