GARFIELD — Seeing children go hungry was more than they could bear so Pattie Gardner, Leslie Dettmann and Kaci Dennett formed God’s Pantry and began giving out food and household essentials.
“We opened this because there were children in Garfield who didn’t eat all weekend,” Gardner said, recalling a 4-year-old boy who came in one day without shoes on and another child who tore into his Back-Pack snack pack in the school bus on his way home because he was so hungry.
“It’s about the kids,” Gardner said, “regardless of what the parents are doing.”
“God called us to do it,” Dettmann said. She said the group began by holding a garage sale to raise money to fund the program and someone walked in and gave them a dishwasher. “It just flowed from there.”
Just two years old, God’s Pantry has grown by leaps and bounds and just purchased a new building. the former office of VAS (Volunteer Ambulance Service of Northeast Benton County) on South Wimpy Jones and Dennis Mitchell was owned by Northeast Benton County Volunteer Fire Department after the two entities merged. It was listed for sale for $125,000. There are also two large storage buildings on the nearlytwo-acre property.
“Our cup runneth over,” Gardner said. “This is just so perfect because Leslie and I had been looking for a new building.
“There is no way we could have afforded this,” she said, recalling that the program was operating out of a smaller building in Garfield but did not have enough room to store the supplies they were being given. She said she was at her desk typing a grant application so the organization could afford a larger facility when an investor walked in and said “We’ll buy it” referring to the building.
“That’s a God thing,” she said.
Both Gardner and Kara Funk, chairman of the board of NEBCO, are real estate agents and both donated their services.
“This is a win-win situation,” Funk said, adding that the money from the sale has been put in NEBCO savings for capital improvements and is not going to be used for regular operating funds.
Funk said the survey company and Beaver Lake Termite donated their services.
God’s Pantry services the Pea Ridge, Garfield and Gateway areas and is open from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m... on Thursdays. There are 16 volunteers who help.
Food is donated from several organizations, some is purchased from the Northwest Arkansas Food Bank.
Gardner said she is still amazed at how provisions come in.
“I was in line at DollarGeneral in Seligman buying a large amount of personal hygiene items for the pantry. A lady behind me told me Wal-Mart Returns would be happy to give to the pantry,” Gardner said.
Shampoo, dish soap and diapers are just a few of the items available.
J.B. Hunt has a food drive and gives the food to God’s Pantry. Lost Bridge Community Church has a monthly food drive and donates to the pantry.
Northwest Arkansas Hunters for the Hungry also donates, someone recently donated a couple of wild hogs.
The pantry also dispenses USDA food giveaways once a month.
“We plan to open a thrift store to generate money for the pantry,” Gardner said.
News, Pages 1 on 02/01/2012