“We couldn’t do it (go to the Greene County Commission) if it was still in the county’s name. So they agreed that it was a sound business policy,” said Gail Matson, the executive director of the FISH pantry. ”One, it’s going to give us the money to build our new storage facility and warehouse, but it will also give us enough money to put into an investment where the returns on that investment will hopefully pay for some operating expenses going forward.”
“It makes us a little more sustainable, so we’re not hand to mouth,” she said.
The new storage building they’re creating costs around $300,000.
Matson explained that as the need for food goes up, so does the need for storage.
The pantry takes donations from large corporations, who largely donate things in bulk. Matson explained that they never turn down food, so when bulk orders come in, she has to find a place for them.
“This one woman called and said, ‘We have 40 cases of (Tyson) chicken, do want it?’ and I’m like, yeah!” Matson said. “They brought it in, but our freezers (are) full right now.”
Currently, the pantry is allowed space by Frozen Food Express, who holds their frozen food while Matson’s husband goes back and forth to transport food when the pantry runs out of room or food.
The money from the gas, purchasing a truck to do these things, and loss of manpower from going back and forth, ultimately takes away from what the pantry can do with the excess money they do have.
Hitting an all-time high in May by serving 171 families in just 3 hours, Matson said that the pantry needs all the help it can get, and also all of the food they can get.
The freezer and extra storage will serve as a game-changer for the pantry, and allow them to collect more food that they normally have to outsource storage for.
Jen Burns, the director and founder of Access to Excess, a food rescuing nonprofit in Trotwood that takes the pantry’s leftover food to give away for free, explains that one of the biggest problems of ending food insecurity is the lack of storage capacity and logistics.
“That’s why we can’t fix food waste; that’s why we can’t fix hunger —because there’s no system for extra food,” Burns said. “It’s redistribution, it’s logistics, it’s picking it up from here and you have to have some sort of cooler or freezer for in the meantime so you can store it. You can’t just accept 15 pallets of frozen Tyson Chicken without storage or the people ready for it. So that’s why this is such a good idea.”
Multiple aspects of the building are set to serve as memorials to people such as Gene Fischer, the longtime Greene County sheriff who died in 2021, and retired Air Force Col. John Hobson.
The pantry had a ribbon-tying celebration Friday, to signify tying themselves to the community.
To help, Matson urged people to volunteer, donate, and visit the pantry to see what they can do.
For more information you can contact Gail Matson at 937-372-8441.
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