Community Pantry

Helping Those in Need in Rabun County

OUR STORY

1999--- Rabun County, Georgia

 

                 Community Partnership (CP), an umbrella organization that offers a variety of social services in Rabun County, GA, was approached by grandparents who found themselves with custody of their abused grandchild, with no means to purchase diapers.

                 CP realized that there was no existing organization which could provide non-food for individuals in need.  Sharing and Caring, the local food bank, provided food.  Even if they wanted to add non-food items, they clearly had no room for non-food (i.e., personal hygiene, cleaning materials, diapers) products on their shelves.

                 A plan was devised.  A new organization would rise up to meet this need.

                 COMMUNITY PANTRY.   Sharing and Caring helped this group get its non-profit 501 (c) 3 status.  The plan was for Community Pantry volunteers to purchase the non-food products, then give them out monthly.  A local family donated a storage shed in Clayton, GA, where the products could be stored, and from which the volunteers could give them out.

                 Community Pantry decided it did not need to be in the business of qualifying recipients.  So that responsibility was given to four entities: Rabun County Department of Family and Child Services (DFCS); Ninth District Opportunity, Inc., a private, non-profit corporation founded in 1967 to carry out the mandate of the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964; local church pastors and doctors.  The majority of recipients seek eligibility through DFCS.

                 And still they gave out products.  Local stores were approached to donate items. Schools and churches had collection drives.  Collection bins were set up in the community. Trucks filled with non-food items would periodically arrive at the storage shed.  Volunteers would meet the truck, unload, shelve, and then distribute.  How many and how much of any item was always a question.  At one point it was decided a person could pick 10 items.

                 The very first client was a woman who simply wanted foil. Over the many years she had cooked for her family, she had gradually worn away the burner liners on her stove.  She wanted foil so she could make the stove look presentable.  The first mother served wanted toilet paper and soap.  She had been “taking” these from restrooms around town because she could not afford to buy them.

                 By 2004, the volunteers were exhausted, the storage shed could no long hold all the items, and it was clear that a new system was needed.

                 VOUCHERS!  Vouchers would be issued for $15.00 (some months we have the funds for $20.00 vouchers) to individuals, and they could then use them to make their own purchases.  Three stores in Clayton, GA, agreed to accept the vouchers. Instead of collecting products, monies would be raised to provide for these monthly vouchers. Today there are two stores who participate, Family Dollar and Andy’s (a small, local grocery store).

                 Vouchers take the decision from Community Pantry and give it to the individual, who then has CHOICE in what items to “buy”.  Vouchers also removed the need for Community Pantry to estimate what inventory should be on hand.

                 St. James Episcopal Church, Clayton, offered the use of their parish hall for voucher distribution.  Volunteers meet at the church and distribute between $4000 and $6000 worth of vouchers each month.  Approximately 95% of the recipients choose to use these vouchers at Family Dollar.

 

                 Community Pantry raises funds in many ways:

                                  an annual letter campaign solicits donations from individuals, local

community organizations and businesses;

                                  area churches donate monthly;

                                  grants;

                                  fund-raising events;

                                  the local Board of Realtors passes the hat each month;

                                  a restaurant in town even solicits donations for use of their restroom!

                

                 Today more than 300 individuals are served by Community Pantry.  On the first Monday of each month clients come to St. James Episcopal Church, in Clayton, Georgia, where $20.00 vouchers are issued.  We could serve more if we had more funds.