The Homer Community Food Pantry would like to extend a heartfelt thank you to all of those who made our fall Harvesting Kindness Food Drive an amazing success!
Fireweed Academy, McNeil Canyon, Paul Banks and West Homer Elementary surpassed all other years in their donations! Little Fireweed’s students generated a personal commercial on KBBI that was adorable and no doubt had a huge impact. Big Fireweed, with their theme on community, was given presentations by food pantry board members. In response to that, they came to the pantry for a field trip and were put to work sorting boxes of donated foods for our clients. They were amazed at the amount of food that had been donated along with how much we give out weekly.
McNeil Canyon hosted a student grade competition this year and delivered approximately 500 pounds of canned goods along with their own soup sacks with all the fixins’, complete with a personalized holiday card!
Paul Banks joined our drive this year! Their first graders heard our presentation on the huge need in our community and began filling and delivering several boxes. Welcome aboard Paul Banks!
West Homer Elementary has been filling their boxes for several years now and was so proud to load them up to present to the pantry!
Kachemak Bay Campus has also conducted a drive every Christmas in conjunction with the pantry. It’s a beautiful gesture that engages all ages, hopefully instilling a sense of giving to those in need along with a personal feeling of pride and warmth.
The U.S. Coast Guard continues to come to the rescue in so many ways. They hosted the Haunted Aspen, sailing in approximately 2,000 cans of food. They assisted tremendously in unloading 750 turkeys that had been purchased through the Kenai Peninsula Food Bank at a greatly reduced price, for the Lions Club, Share the Spirit and the Homer Community Food Pantry. We salute you! Coal Point offers free freezer space to house the birds and often contributes fresh fish for our patrons. So many come together to make this happen.
Orion Donicht and Metis Riley hosted their fourth annual Thankful Market through Alice’s Champagne Palace, providing several boxes of nonperishable foods and donations. Cheers to Alice’s! Kharacters promotes our Grinch collection jar each year as well as contributing financially to the pantry. We appreciate and thank you!
To the numerous local potters, restaurants and volunteers who made our Empty Bowl Fundraiser the most successful to date! To Sherry Stead and Grace Ridge Brewery for hosting our Taco Pantry Palooza fundraiser!
South Peninsula Hospital challenged their medical staff to raise 1,200 pounds of food in 12 days! With the funds raised, they provided a large amount of items specifically for the homeless. SPH medical staff not only provides for those at the hospital but also care for HCFP! What an amazing, caring team of professionals you are! Also a hearty thanks to Annie Garay from SPH for the free flue shots and vaccines!
Every year Homer Animal Friends sponsor a fundraiser for our furry friends! Cathy Harder, Evelyn Seguela, Terry Ellert and Janet Fink collected 1,400 pounds of dry food and 22 pounds of canned. They also deliver bags of food throughout the year. You’re Top Dog in our book!
Two Sister’s Bakery has provided their loaves of homemade bread to the pantry every Monday for four years now! They prepare it every Sunday in order to provide the fresh loaves. It is a true labor of love! Wild Honey Bistro & City Bear Bread continue to donate their fresh breads and croissants to our pantry and Community Free Fridge. The Bagel Shop provides their bounty of bagels and BB’s Bakery often shows up with their yummy donuts, rolls and fritters! What a sweet treat for all as well as a bakery blessing to HCFP!
Other businesses and organizations providing nonperishable food items were Bay Welding Services, Kachemak Bay Running Club and the Community Rec, Herb’s Herbs, The Homer Library, The American Legion, The Elks Club, The Rotary Club, The Lions Club, The Women’s Guild, and Kachemak Board of Realtors. Global Credit Union offered a program called, Cash for Cans! To the Postal Workers who show up annually with cat and dog food and kid’s snacks! You continue to deliver, thank you!
We are also grateful to the many churches that continue to donate: All Saints of America Orthodox Church, Church on the Rocks, St. Augustine, Glacier View Baptist, St. John’s Church, Homer United Methodist and Regent Life. Sons of the American Legion has graciously continued their support as well as VBS, Women United in Faith and Bishop’s Attic.
Our community pantry is nourished through the generosity of the USDA and their local food and assistance program. Through the generosity of The Food Hub, and their manager Kyra Harty, we were given fresh produce and eggs throughout the summer! We were also awarded a bounty of fresh produce through the Alaska Farmers Market Association, and the Alaska Division of Agriculture. Lauren Jerew, Amber Swain, Oscar Brown and Joe Harrington comprise the board of the Homer’s Farmer’s Market. Our clients are in disbelief with the amount of fresh greens that are delivered each week through these organizations and so much healthier for it. Robbi Mixon and Rachel Lord, along with numerous folks at the Alaska Food Coalition work tirelessly to provide fresh produce and fish and lobby for multiple food programs. People throughout our state owe you more than we can ever hope to express. It is beyond words.
We also want to give a shoutout to the countless churches, schools, organizations and individuals that show up with their garden gains! The Shriners for their awesome onions, Joey Allred and Doug Fisk for their passel of potatoes, and Charlie Franz and his team. Twitter Creek Gardens and Enterprise Eggs, along with individual egg donors. Tiny and Lisa Nolan, owners of Fat Olives, have purchased onions, carrots and potatoes weekly for us. They’ve also provided fresh fruits and cheeses. Such a gift! HCFP gives out approximately 150 pounds of potatoes, 100 pounds of carrots and 100 pounds of onions weekly. We greatly appreciate their additional support! McNeil Canyon Meats donates their processing of meats and Boardwalk Fish and Chips provides freezer storage space and donations as well. The Kenai Peninsula Food Bank saves us a fortune in providing food at a greatly reduced price! Homer Expediters delivers it for us each week. Thank you Jules! Andy Armstrong and Beachy Construction have also helped the pantry with our electrical and construction needs.
Fish On! This year Citizen Salmon, a fishery that works directly with small boat fishermen of Kachemak Bay and Cook Inlet, delivered an abundance of fresh salmon and halibut to HCFP throughout the year. The Southwest Pilot’s Association, (SWAPA), a marine pilot organization in Homer is dedicated to providing protein in the way of fish and meats to Alaska Consumers. Sea Sharers continue to donate their fabulous ground salmon and fish received through by-catch to communities throughout Alaska. Homer Fish Processing offered free fish processing to anyone wanting to donate it to the pantry. Siren’s Call Charters and the many charter folks who showed up with excess food from their charters and fish, not to forget all of the individuals who would just walk into the pantry with their fresh fish! We also had Mark Hesse, who unloaded over 1,000 pounds of food from three ships. He heard of our need and took it upon himself to lower each box from the transports with a rope. You are amazing! Carlin, from The Alaska Tasman, traveling from Norway to Homer, collecting scientific climate data from the Arctic, donated several pounds of Norwegian oats and foods. In both cases these individuals didn’t want their food to go to waste, thus searching out HCFP. The word is getting out and we are extremely grateful!
The Knights of Columbus showed their warmth through Coats for Kids this winter that we continue handing out each week. Leslie Mastik and Homer’s Jeans has provided slightly used coats for over 10 years to us. Give a coat, get a discount! Dr. Taylor and Anna from Arctic Chiropractic collected new toys for kids from their clients. Parents were thrilled to have something new for their little ones! The Homer Book Store, through their Blind Date program has also contributed.
We simply could not do what we do without the numerous financial donors. Through The Homer Foundation we have received monies from Evelyn Waltenbaugh, David and Mary Schroer, and an annual City Grant. We appreciate Petro Marine and the Lindsey Family for their huge boost to the pantry, Safeway for promoting donations at checkout from their customers that we receive in the way of Safeway food cards! We appreciate those who donate through Pick, Click, Give, Richard Leiter for his unwavering support and the new Northern Bank as well as The American Heart Association, Thank you Kathy Layer and Susan Green, Mark Robinson and Nancy Lander. Maynard Smith, Janet Quigley, Wayne Aderhold, Michael Stegemen, Mel Strydom and the numerous others that have been there for us financially.
Our costs run approximately $15,000 a month, $180,000 annually. We have only two part-time paid positions as well as a paid dishwasher. Our volunteers are amazing and invaluable! We have anonymous donors who provide 24-plus gallons of whole milk each week for families, another person ships several boxes of shelf stable milk each month. People throughout the community who support our Community Free Fridge, which supplies over 1,000 sandwiches each month, 600 soups and casseroles, along with salads, yogurts and desserts. The dedicated kitchen staff who cooks for this twice a week so it can be stocked twice a day, seven days a week, also the many pickup drivers and stockers, The Senior Sandwich Club from the Senior Center who makes sandwiches each week for our fridge. The multitudes of people who donate eggs, fruits, soups, breads and desserts, etc to our Community Free Fridge. Be sure to thank Safeway and their employees that allows us to pick up foods that need to be utilized but can no longer be sold. They have been a huge support to our pantry and fridge. We have such an incredible community!
Every Monday we serve up to 175 families, which equates to more than 2,000 individuals, who are served through the pantry. More families are signing up weekly! The need is huge and continues to grow. This does not include those that utilize the Community Free Fridge, which empties daily. It is a commitment of love and a huge amount of work throughout the week. We provide food staples twice a month to over 100 students at Homer High as well as the Girl Scout weekend backpack program. We ship enough for 30 people across the bay, and provide to Anchor Point and as far up the road as Ninilchik.
HCFP provides emergency services in the way of rent assistance, shower and laundry vouchers, firewood, heating oil, phone bills, prescription meds and more. Jaclyn Rainwater and All Things Recovery is able to provide resources with those dealing with substance abuse.
We have 30-45 individuals that help to make the pantry the success that it is. We are proud to have a new donation and ordering coordinator, Jordan Fisk. Jordan has volunteered for four years or more so he already knows the job. You can reach him at 907-435-1616 if you have questions or donations. Kordell Jones is the volunteer coordinator and can be reached at 907-235-1968. We are open every Monday from 8 a.m.-12 p.m. preparing and 12-3 p.m. distributing food at the United Methodist Church, 770 East End Road. We are also there every Thursday from 12-4 p.m., and open for drop-offs.
Our clients love coming into the pantry as we are like family and we sincerely care. Some say it’s their favorite day of the week! There’s no better praise than that or the compassionate stories that our clients share with us weekly showing their gratitude to our pantry.
If you’d like to donate to the Homer Community Food Pantry or be put on our monthly newsletter you can go to our website at homerfoodpantry@gmail.com. We encourage people to please consider the Homer Community Food Pantry by becoming Legacy Donors. You can do this by going to the website through the Homer Foundation and filling out the paperwork. Through meliorism, the belief that we can contribute to positive change and improve the world through acts of love, creativity, compassion and kindness we strive to achieve our goal — that none may go hungry.
Deb Schmidt is a Homer Community Food Pantry board member.
