As many know, we’ve collected donations for the Samaritan Food Pantry located on Market Plaza by Coffee House Five in the past. We’ve supported Samaritan Food Pantry through food donations, monetary donations, and the meals we’ve packed with Pack Away Hunger. Concordia supported this food pantry for many years.
During the height of the pandemic, many members of our congregation continued to generously donate to the food pantry. However, those who deliver the food to the Samaritan Food Pantry ran into a problem. The pantry doors weren’t open during their posted office hours. It was getting harder to donate food. With an overflowing pantry box, from generous church members; Concordia needed to look into other options.
We began taking food to The Refuge in March, 2021. The Refuge is located by the Sam’s Club on Emerson and Main Street, behind the Wendy’s and Crew Carwash. Recently, I took my kids to deliver the food Concordia collected to the pantry since I hadn’t visited it.
I was impressed. Their donation door is in the back which gives direct access to the pantry. They have shelves lining the walls and free standing shelves. The Refuge has cleaning supplies, toilet paper, food, and some other household necessities they can distribute. They also have birthday bags which contain things like cake mix, so if there is a birthday in a patron’s household, they have what they need to celebrate. They have cold cases for donations like milk and eggs and a walk-in freezer to store meat and bread. The workers were kind and able to give me information like how often a family could visit the pantry and the requirements to receive food.
The Refuge said the items they tend to need the most are Hamburger Helper type meals and rice. Instant rice and bags of regular rice are both popular. These are the items they will ask churches to collect if churches are asking to take a special collection. Of course, all items are needed at one time or another, but these tend to be the most popular items in their pantry, the ones that go the quickest, and the ones usually in lowest supply.
We would like to thank the members of Concordia for supporting the people of Johnson County with their donations to The Refuge Food Pantry. Through your kindness and generosity, we are able to support our neighbors who need extra help when they are going through a tough season in life. If you would like to donate to The Refuge, consider purchasing food and bringing it to Concordia. Our collection is in the wooden box between the LWML bulletin board and entrance to church. Monetary donations will also be collected on February 13th, 2022 during the Souper Bowl of Caring. These extra donations are collected in soup pots and support our food pantry.
Thank you again for your generous donations! For more information about The Refuge food pantry, please, look at one of the brochures on the top shelf of the brochure rack by the entrance to the Narthex.