Rosalia food pantry to re-open

Rosalia Food Pantry, the monthly food distribution service, will mark a grand re-opening next Thursday, Oct. 19, from 6 to 8 p.m., at the Baptist Church. The pantry will remain at the church.

“Great news, for sure,” commented Paige Collins, executive director of the Council on Aging and Human Services.

The plan for Rosalia is to form an association with the four churches of Rosalia to oversee the sustainability of the pantry once it opens.

The pantry will operate once a month, and the council will keep it loaded with food supplies, Collins noted.

The day of operation will be the third Thursday of the month.

The Rosalia pantry has been closed for more than eight months. Costs and finding volunteers to help were problems in sustaining the pantry.

Rosalia Mayor Nan Konishi said Father Mike Savelesky from Holy Rosary Catholic Church and Deacon Rick Jones from the Baptist Church have worked to return the Pantry to service.

One of the problems that closed the pantry was the costs of operating three freezer units at the site. Holy Rosary will assist with the expenses of the freezers which preserve some of the inventory, Mayor Konishi said.

Father Savelesky began to work on the re-opening plan after reading a Gazette article about the problems encountered by small communities around the county in sustaining a pantry operation.

Collins reported the Rosalia pantry served approximately 40 families in the Rosalia area when it was functioning. She said some of those families made stops at the Colfax Pantry which operates twice a month.

Other families probably went without food pantry services because of the fuel cost involved in driving to Colfax, Collins said.

The Council on Aging supports 11 food banks in the county, and the smaller operations often have trouble finding residents to work at the local level, Collins said.

Garfield Food Bank has been having problems sustaining its operation for the past several months.

Once the local pantries are in operation, the council will be able to provide food supplies for distribution to the needy.