St. John’s Episcopal Church in Powell has explored a variety of different ways to support the community’s food needs.

Two years ago the church landed on offering a pantry every Tuesday from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. The pantry is grant supported thanks to organizers Sue Woods and Debra Ross, who handle grant writing and shopping/community relations respectively. 

Ross tries her hardest to gather input from those who use the pantry to see what they like and what they may need.

“They don’t want to seem ungrateful or greedy, but we’ve kind of learned from that,” Ross said, adding, “We should put in our pantry the same things you want to get at the grocery store.”

The church’s pantry is small and tries not to offer what people can get somewhere else, Woods added. Among other things, they offer kit meals like pork chops, mashed potatoes, gravy and vegetables. If Woods gets her way there will be “cookies or ice cream in there somewhere.”

The pantry is nearly entirely grant funded, Woods, said. The model works because the pantry can afford to buy things like chicken breasts and make a meal kit. People can also gather other pantry items, “but it’s not a full pantry, and we make it different almost every week,” Woods said.

Unlike other pantries where people are given pre-packed bags, at this one they can come in and pick what they want, Ross said, and when they leave they can pick up some treats from a basket where there may be chocolates or even a Twinkie.

The pantry’s usage has grown from around 30 to 60 people, Woods said, and they recognize there are a total of four pantries in town looking to fill gaps instead of compete.

The pantry also receives plenty of fresh produce from a local farmer, (the pantry will gladly take vegetables but encourages donations to go into other organizations like Loaves and Fishes.)

The freshly picked vegetables have been a hit and people have been “so pleased and so happy and appreciative” Woods said.  

“We decided we would be the pantry that sort of filled the gaps between what  the typical pantry offers, and I believe a lot of those pantries use the Wyoming food bank,” Woods added. “So my opinion is that’s great. I’m glad there’s so much food access for people, but we tried to figure out a way to be different from them, and so we kind of worked a little bit with Loaves and Fishes, and we found where there are gaps, and that’s kind of what we offer.”