God’s Food Bank is taking the next step as a community food pantry by doing one thing: paying for itself.
Mary Coffin, the God’s Food Bank Coordinator, has only been on the job for about a month and has the pantry going in the right direction.
Coffin has managed grocery stores for 17 years and has done food service for 20 years. With all her experience, getting the input from the board members took priority.
“What I’ve seen is great board members who are active,” Coffin said. “They are involved. They are in there helping us to stock and clean and organize and put their opinions in, which was great for me when I first started.”
Coffin said things were rearranged, product was moved and the help came from the Hope House.
Zeke Villasenor, the Board President at God’s Food Bank, took part in the check presentation alongside Coffin. He mentioned something that stands out about the food bank.
“I think one thing that’s different about this food pantry is that we create a shopping experience for the customers,” Villasenor said. “They don’t come in and get a bag of food to take home. They get to select (the food).”
A challenge Coffin predicts will be getting the word on the food bank out to the most people possible.
In 2021, God’s Food Bank served 7,910 households. Coffin said that equates to 16,127 people.
“We’re feeding several hundred families every week right now,” Coffin said. “We will love to be able to help even more people.”
The food bank also will participate in a “Healthy Pantries” grant sponsored by Blue Cross and Blue Shield. The program is designed to educate clients on healthier lifestyles and food choices. The goal is to cut down on diseases and illnesses while reducing the impact on unaffordable medical costs for clients and their families.
Beyond its partnerships with the Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma and the United Way of Central Oklahoma, God’s Food Bank relies on donations from the community.
On Jan. 4, John Vance presented Coffin, who was representing God’s Food Bank, with a check for $25,000 to help pay off the mortgage for the food bank located at 402 W. Vilas Ave.
“We see a community helper like God’s Food Bank and what they do and we feel obligated, when the community is where we operate, to give back to the community,” Vance said. “And I think this is the number one project in Logan County that we all need some help with.”
Without a payment needed for the building, Coffin said the floors will be the next project the food bank will focus on.
“We have some projects that we want to do, and with John paying off the mortgage, we’ll be able to tackle some of those projects that we want to get done,” Coffin said.