Our journey began with an announcement at a Circle of Caring Meeting last Spring by George Perkins of Carroll County Food Sunday. He reported to the group that Food Sunday was looking for satellite locations to expand coverage in Carroll County to those individuals in areas that were difficult to serve from the perspective of distance.
This need was brought back to St. Mary’s Evangelical Lutheran Church and addressed at a Church Council meeting. The consensus of Council was that if there was someone that was interested and willing to take the lead, they were on board with continuing to explore the concept. And explore the concept we did…
A Food Pantry Committee was formed and over the Spring, Summer and Fall we researched and got feedback from other agencies and organizations. We even took a field trip to a Pantry in Union Bridge and spoke with Pam Fink who answered all our questions and gave us lots of ideas and feedback. An update was provided to Council.
More research, meetings, idea exploration and reporting ensued. At a Committee meeting in January a wonderful suggestion was made and adopted regarding the naming of the Pantry … “Silver Run Community Food Pantry.” This name invites our neighbors to be part of this initiative and we are amazed by the support we have already received from outside our Church Community – just today I had three offers to assist --2 individuals / families and a Girl Scout troop. In addition, the Venture Crew affiliated with St. Mary’s has offered their assistance as well.
Monday evening, February 13, 2012, a presentation was made to Council in hopes of final approval. That approval was granted and Wednesday, February 16th final setup of the Pantry and the first training was completed. Our doors will officially open on Wednesday evening, March 7, 2012, from 5:30-6:30pm. What more fitting way to celebrate our heritage and honor those who have gone before us on this our 250th Anniversary than by serving others in need in our Community?
Of course, we couldn’t have launched this without the extraordinary help of our 14 Committee Members: Jill Spriggs, Tammy Fairbank, Jim Crist, Pastor Lee and Ann Brumback, Gail Wisner, Helen Wolf, Cindy Sparacino, Dwyn Fleischer, Pat Armstrong, Jim and Betty Huber, Gary and Brenda Meadows and our 15+ Supporting members: Craig Fleischer, Forest Fleischer, Suzy Spriggs, Matt Spriggs, Katie Fairbank, Mark Utz, Leslie Phillips, Lou Ann Snyder, Ruth Warfield, Fran Crist, Junior & Bertha Miller, Sonya Spencer, Laura Bennett, Jason Bennett & St. Mary’s Sunday School, several additional families in the community, and the Church Council and Community-at-large. That being said, we can still use your help in a multitude of ways: manning the pantry, taking inventory, placing the food order, collecting bags and a myriad of other ways.
It is due to everyone’s hard work and dedication that we will be able to live and serve the words of 1 John 3:17-18: “But if anyone has the world's goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God's love abide in him? Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.” We do have many exciting ideas that we are visioning and will explore for the future. They include expanding our mission (with the help of Community Partners) through activities like a Community Garden, Social Network presence, Bible Study / Church Service Wednesday evenings for those we serve and anyone else that would like to attend. Stay tuned! Or even better, come, join us!
