By Brianna Stephens

Christian Appalachian Project’s (CAP) Grateful Food Pantry is already off to a busy start to the new year in helping provide food for children, their families, and seniors in Appalachia. To help support its mission, First Baptist Church Mt. Vernon, a local church and pantry partner, collected and donated 446 pounds of food to Grateful Bread.

The congregation collected the food during December and delivered it to the pantry at the start of the year. “The donation was very much appreciated,” said Sherri Barnett, manager of the pantry. “We haven’t been getting the donations we usually receive because of the pandemic. This will help us continue our mission of reducing physical and spiritual hunger in Appalachia.”

One in four children in Rockcastle County, Kentucky, where the pantry is located, struggle with food insecurity. The pandemic is making it harder for some families to provide meals for their children while schools remain closed. “When school was in session children were fed two meals a day, and that took so much stress off a lot of the parents,” Barnett said. “Now the children are home and families are trying to provide those two extra meals a day on limited budgets.”

Over the Christmas holiday, the pantry staff received three phone calls notifying them of families who were in desperate need of food. In response Grateful Bread delivered emergency food boxes. “The families were very appreciative of the help,” Barnett said.

The pantry is currently accepting donations from the community to help continue serving the people of Appalachia. Donations can be taken to Grateful Bread, 3095 Richmond Street, Mount Vernon, Kentucky, from 9 a.m. to 4:15 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday. For more information about dropping off donations, call 606.256.3035.