( 606) 219-0033 krphoto. ky @ gmail. com
In September, Russell made that call for help on her personal Facebook page and the Food Pantry’ s page because the pantry’ s shelves were bare, something that happens after summer every year.
“ Our shelves were completely empty and it was hurting my heart. I reached out and said,‘ Friends, I need your help. I don’ t ask unless I truly have a need, but our shelves are empty and we’ ve got to have some food come in,’” she said.“ As they always do, the community responded and really blew it out of the water in sending stuff to us. They are amazing.”
Anyone seeking to receive food from God’ s Food Pantry must provide three items to be eligible:
— a current government issued photo ID for each individual in the household, including children. Individuals with out-of-state drivers licenses can be served one time using that ID but must acquire a Kentucky ID and address change prior to the next 30-day allotment.
— a current utility bill less than 60 days old or a current lease showing a Pulaski County address.
— proof of income for the household such as a paycheck stub or a benefits letter.
Seniors can use the letter they get each year in December, January or February. The largest program provided by God’ s Food Pantry is the regular supplemental cart program that serves an average of 397 people per day. People in the program receive a monthly box of food containing USDA commodities that must adhere to strict guidelines.
Those boxes are augmented with additional items such as sweets, dairy, produce, frozen items and meat, according to the size of the families.
The Senior Program, for individuals 60 years of age and older provides an additional box of food filled from a preset list of items and includes two kinds of breakfast items such as cereal, grits or oatmeal.
It also includes pasta, at least eight cans of fruits and vegetables, some type of shelf-stable milk, a can or pouch of some type of meat, a 2-pound block of cheese, a five-pound bag of potatoes, one or two bottles of juice, and peanut butter.
God’ s Food Pantry also offers a Sack Lunch Program on Monday through Friday from 10 a. m. to 2 p. m.
They are one of only three agencies in the state that can offer the program because they have a health department certified clean room inside the facility in which to safely prepare the lunches. There is no documentation needed to receive the lunches.
“ It is a program that allows us to never say no. It’ s
available to anyone who needs it and stops by,” Russell said.“ We have a lot of families where their children are getting breakfast and lunch at school and they stop and pick up a sack lunch for supper.”
In October God’ s Food Pantry gave out more than 3,700 sack lunches.
God’ s Food Pantry could not survive without its dedicated coalition of volunteers as evidenced by how quickly they turn around a delivery of food for the senior food boxes.
“ The items for the senior boxes come in on pallets from the USDA the day before their pick-up days. We have a group of people come in and pack the boxes, we can do 400 boxes in one hour,” Russell said.
Donations can be made to the food pantry in many ways including dropping food items off at the facility or they also can be made online or by credit card by calling God’ s Food Pantry.
God’ s Food Pantry is open from 10 a. m. to 2:30 p. m. Monday through Friday.
For more information about donating contact the food pantry at 606-679-8560.
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December 2025 SEKY- Southeast Kentucky Life • 15