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A ribbon-cutting ceremony for the Livingston County Food Pantry will be at 1 p.m., October 14, at 703 Milwaukee Street in Chillicothe. The Livingston County Food Pantry is housed at Highview Baptist Church.

The pantry serves as a vital resource for Livingston County families in an emergency or crisis situation. Green Hills Community Action Agency will turn over the administration of the day-to-day operations of the food pantry and the USDA food commodity program to the Livingston County Food Pantry.

With this in mind, GHCAA staff held community meetings to discuss the future operation of the pantry and the USDA commodity food program. The steering committee deemed it in the best interest of the county residents to move the food pantry to an independent location, Wohlgemuth said.

If you would like more information, call Amy Poindexter or Mary Zullig at the Livingston County Food Pantry at 707-0450.

Action Agency Seeks Community Partner to
Take Over Food Distribution Program
Thursday, February 19, 2009, C-T

CAPTION: Volunteer Jan Baker (left) and Licha Kelley-King, youth services coordinator (right) work on sorting non-perishable food items this (Thursday) morning at the Green Hills Community Action Agency service center in Chillicothe. Much of the food on the shelves, they said, is from a recent food drive conducted by local Boy Scouts. An informational meeting is scheduled for next week regarding the pantry and any organizations with an interest in taking over the operation of the pantry are urged to attend.

C-T Photo/Laura Schuler

An informational meeting is set for next week to discuss increasing the community’s involvement in Livingston County’s food pantry. The food pantry at 511 Elm Street, operates out of the Green Hills Community Action Agency service center and serves as a vital resource for Livingston County families in an emergency or crisis situation. Administrators with GHCAA oversee the day-to-day operations of the food pantry as well as the USDA food commodity program. Food from the USDA food commodity program is distributed monthly and comes from the Second Harvest of Greater St. Joseph, Mo.

According to Sherrie Wohlgemuth, director of the Livingston County GHCAA, a community needs assessment and long-range planning conducted by agency staff, volunteers, board members and other key stakeholders uncovered a need to increase the overall participation of local churches, service providers and community groups in the operation of the pantry. “The outcome (of the needs assessment) was that we needed to move the food pantry to another food partner and free up our time to do more case management with the goal of moving our customers into self sufficiency,” Wohlgemuth explained.

The informational meeting will be from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 26, at Highview Baptist Church, 713 Milwaukee Ave. in Chillicothe. Lunch will be provided by GHCAA. Local churches, civic groups and service providers are invited to the meeting and anyone else interested in the operation of the food pantry is welcome to attend. However, reservations are requested by Monday, Feb. 23. “We’re trying to bring community members together and explain the day-to-day working of the pantry, the need and what we’ve got here,” Wohlgemuth said. She added, “We would like to see if any other organization would like to step up and take this project on if they feel it is within their mission. We’ve already had some initial interest,” she said.

The food pantry and the USDA food commodity program help feed people of all ages within the community. Non perishable food items from the food pantry are distributed on a crisis or emergency basis. There are income guidelines governing who receives food items from the USDA food commodity program, Wohlgemuth said. From January through October, the food pantry fed 123 families comprised of 352 individuals. During the same time, the USDA food commodity program fed 621 households, comprised of 1,232 individuals. From 2007-08, the food pantry served 1,555 families.

Those wanting to attend the meeting or wanting more information, should call GHCAA’s Livingston County Service Center at 660-646-3379.