SPRING HILL — The Well Outreach will host a mobile food pantry this Friday for those affected by the ongoing United Auto Workers strike against General Motors..
This includes GM employees, as well as those who have been laid off from jobs at auto part manufacturing companies such as Magna and Faurecia and logistics supplier Ryder. The mobile pantry will be from 9-11 a.m. Friday in the Spring Hill Lowe’s parking lot, located at 2000 Belshire Way. Those in need are asked to bring a work ID, as well as a personal ID.
The Well Executive Director Shelly Sassen said the Spring Hill nonprofit decided to host the mobile pantry food drive because of the increasing need she has seen since the GM strike began more than a month ago.
“We noticed, as an organization, that the numbers of those we serve have been really going up,” Sassen said. “After seeing the increasing response of additional people coming to our pantry, we wanted to be proactive and support the UAW and their sister companies. This is a way for us to walk alongside and show our support, because GM and its employees have meant so much to this community.”
Through donations from the community, churches and businesses, The Well spent $2,500, more than twice its average monthly food budget, to purchase 20,000 pounds, or approximately 20,000 meals, of food from Second Harvest Food Bank for Friday’s drive. The food will support up to about 225 families, who will each go home with a shopping cart full of groceries.
“We’re getting a really good response from the community to help support this, because $1,200 represents the entire amount of our food budget for a month,” Sassen said. “Every day is just a walk of faith, because we are 100 percent community funded. We depend on our neighbors to help support their neighbors.”
Volunteers are also needed for Friday’s mobile food drive. To sign up, visit https://ift.tt/33CaMlb. Anyone who signs up to volunteer is asked to arrive at Lowe’s at 8 a.m. Friday.
Located at 5226 Main St., The Well primarily serves residents in Spring Hill, Columbia, Thompson’s Station, Santa Fe and College Grove. Since the strike began, the food pantry has also opened its doors to serve workers who happen to live outside of its service area communities.
“When this need started to happen within our local community, what we found was that a lot of these workers don’t all live in these areas we normally serve,” Sassen said. “So we are doing a special ‘grandfather clause’ by opening our service area for anyone who works at those companies, and it doesn’t matter where they live. They can stop by The Well and receive what will be a week’s worth of food.”
As far as hosting more mobile pantries, Sassen said The Well doesn’t have the budget to do them on a regular basis, unless the nonprofit can partner with more local businesses, churches and find other ways to raise enough money to do so.
“We had our biggest day in history last Tuesday, serving more than 80 people, which was great, but at the same time it depleted our pantry that day,” Sasson said. “This mobile pantry cost $2,500 to do it, which is a great deal, but with our budget this is not something we can do regularly. If the need continues, we will probably seek business partners and church partners. There’s always that opportunity, and by the power of grace, what is provided can only be given by our community, and by God.”
Founded as a food pantry inside of a church in 2006, The Well became its own nonprofit entity in 2009. Last year, The Well donated more than 190,000 pounds of food through its food drives, mobile pantries and individual donations. For more information, call (615) 302-9355 or visit www.springhillwell.org.
