Pictured: One of the outdoor food pantries built by Larry and Julie Williams of Willey that will hopefully be placed in five area communities very soon.
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The New Opportunities Health Services Department is searching for volunteers in five area communities to aid in the installation and oversight of outdoor food pantries. According to Program Coordinator, Amy Hunziker, the Health Department was recently awarded a grant from the Community Partnership for Protecting Children (CPPC). Hunziker says they used these grant funds to build cabinets that will offer 24-hour food access to children and families in Audubon, Carroll, Coon Rapids, Guthrie Center and Manning.
The CPPC grant money was used to purchase supplies for five of these boxes, and Larry and Julie Williams of Willey volunteered their time to build them. Hunziker says the outdoor pantries will be separate from the regular New Opportunities food pantry and will require some assistance from volunteers in these communities to get them up and running.
She adds this would be a great way for church groups, local families or service organizations to become more involved in assisting their neighbors. New Opportunities is also working to identify a location for the cabinets to be placed in each of these towns. Since the outdoor pantries are almost entirely community driven, Hunziker says they hope to see them start popping up throughout the region.
As of Wednesday, Hunziker says they are still searching for volunteers in all five of the targeted communities. If you or your organization is interested in lending a hand with the outdoor food pantry program, contact Hunziker by phone at 712-830-0855 or through the email address included below.
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ahunziker@newopp.org