Quick thinking and faithful volunteers kept thousands of dollars of food from being lost last week at the Gilmer Community Food Pantry. Director Allen Triebel said power outages before and after the July 30 storm made two days in a row “quite hectic.”
“On Tuesday, the power went out a couple of minutes after the CAFB (Chattanooga Area Food Bank) truck left,” he said of their weekly delivery. “The power was out all along our section of Highway 52 East, and we never learned the reason. We spent most of the late morning unloading, sorting and stocking the shelves in the dark.”
Fortunately, the donation of a generator by a local restaurant powered one of the buildings. Then volunteers Jeff Schaus and Randy Steele quickly moved the chest freezers to the small warehouse.
“Their actions saved thousands of dollars of frozen food products,” Triebel pointed out, “while the generator more than earned its keep.”
But there were more challenges to overcome after all the food was in place for the next day.
“On my arrival Wednesday morning, the generator was running in the small warehouse, and the large warehouse was without power,” he said of the day after the July 30 storm. “Luckily, we had already moved the milk delivery and the delicate veggies to the large walk-in cooler.”
Normally, the pantry is open for food distributions on Wednesdays at their 5273 Highway 52 East facility from 9 a.m. to 12:45 p.m. However, last week Triebel had to make a difficult decision.
“Since we didn’t have lights in the main warehouse for the safety of the volunteers and clients, I was forced to close the pantry at 9 a.m.,” he said. “I regretfully had to turn away a half-dozen clients. As of 2 p.m., our power was still out.”
Still, the pantry was able to serve one family (a volunteer’s), and also completed one Adopt-A-Family delivery, wherein food is taken out to a lower-income resident with transportation issues.
“The vegetables that would not hold over until next week were given to the Gilmer County Detention Center,” he said of a policy they have with the jail. “In exchange, the detention center staff agreed to pick up and dispose of our garbage each Wednesday for the immediate future. Thanks again, Officer Dustin Dover — and thanks for all the volunteers who showed up under the adverse conditions.”
Triebel said without the donated generator the pantry would “have lost probably $10,000 worth of food.” The pantry also receives donations of dog and cat food from the Atlanta Humane Society for “little to nothing in cost.”
The food pantry thrives on volunteers and teamwork.
“New volunteers get to see what real teamwork looks like up front and personal — Republicans, Democrats, Independents and Libertarians all working in harmony,” he noted. “It’s not that hard.”
Food pantry July statistics
﹣ The month of July saw 356 families, 815 adults and 355 children (but no Sack Pack kids) served, and there were 125 Boys & Girls Club kids served.
﹣ A total of 45,284 pounds of food were distributed during the month.
﹣ The year-to-date food distribution total is 367,038 pounds.
— Source: Director Allen Triebel
August food drive underway
A food drive for the Gilmer Community Food Pantry is underway with collection points at the following locations:
﹣ Gilmer County Chamber, 696 First Avenue, East Ellijay
﹣ Coldwell Banker High Country Realty, 329 River Street, Ellijay
﹣ Mountain Aire Realty, 97 Mulberry Street, East Ellijay.
Acceptable items for drop-off include canned veggies and fruit, cereal and Ramen noodles (but not rice).
To donate funds:
Online — gilmerfoodpantry.org
By mail — Gilmer Community Food Pantry
P.O. Box 1982, Ellijay, GA 30540