Normally in the business of helping others, one local food pantry saw the deed returned their way.
During morning hours on Friday, Assistance & Resources Ministries (ARM) Food Pantry was the recipient of a pantry makeover sponsored by Food Lion. The facility was nominated for the makeover thanks to Second Harvest Food Bank of Northeast Tennessee.
“It’s been amazing,” ARM Executive Director Nikki Jones said. “It’s been like a triangle — Food Lion, Second Harvest and our pantry. We’ve been able to partner together and it’s been all for the good of our community.”
Serving as a nonprofit organization that helps feed individuals with the county, funds can be an issue, Jones added, causing ARM to strategize on where monetary funds go.
“The monies we do get in, we have to prioritize,” Jones said. “Nutrition and feeding is high priority. The general maintenance is that next priority and we never really had that extra bit to be able to make things function more efficiently, it’s just been maintaining. Today has just been such a blessing.”
But Friday provided a key component that will aid the facility moving forward with multiple workers putting in their hours to complete the makeover. Along with the “beautification” inside the building, ARM received approximately 1,500 pounds worth of food donations from Food Lion.
“This is one of the best parts of my job. I love it,” Courtney James with Food Lion said Friday. “Being able to help give back to the communities that work and serve every day. This is the second year of doing this program. It’s not just here, but throughout our 10-state footprint. We asked our 30 food bank partners to nominate local agencies that were in need of additional support and resources.”
Providing services to communities is a high priority, according to Food Lion.
“Giving back to our communities through volunteer service is part of who we are as a company and something we are just as passionate about as serving customers in our stores,” said Meg Ham, Food Lion president. “Hunger Action Month provides a great opportunity for us to celebrate a month of service through ‘The Great Pantry Makeover’ by enabling our associates to nourish our communities through local food pantry capacity expansion, refurbishment and nutritious food donations.”
With the program, Food Lion donated 1,200 volunteer hours with a million meals to more than 30 pantries in the 10 states the store serves.
The decision of nominating ARM with the makeover came with ease, according to Second Harvest Food Bank Executive Director Rhonda Chaffin.
“It’s just amazing to see the work these agencies do for their community every single day,” Chaffin said. “This pantry alone fed 1,700 people last month. On a food bank note, we’re just grateful. We’re kind of in between this beautiful corporate realtor with the program they started called ‘Food Lion Feeds’ to help end hunger and this great community agency that needed just a little bit more help and support. This just helps shed some light on things with it being Hunger Action Month and what a helping hand can do for an agency.”