The Bread of Life food pantry nearing 25 years of service

Sabrina Thiede, director of outreach at the First United Methodist Church in Springdale, stands near the shelves of canned goods at The Bread of Life food pantry operated by the church.

What started as a food closet nearly 25 years ago in the basement of the First United Methodist Church in Springdale has grown now to a standalone food pantry at 208 W. Emma Ave.

“It has grown and grown and it shows the church’s desire to help the local community,” said Sabrina Thiede, director of outreach at the church and The Bread of Life food pantry.The facility averages 130 families a week or approximately 600 people, she said. The facility is open on Wednesday and Thursdays and in the evenings on the second Wednesday.

Thiede said those numbers have remained relatively stable since they peaked in 2011. However, she said they have been seeing 25 new families a week and she’s not quite sure why. But she thinks it could be rise in the cost of housing that is putting a pinch in some residents’ pocketbooks. Approximately 70 percent of the clients are regulars, who come in once a month for assistance, she said. The other 30 percent are people who are one emergency away from needing assistance. After they get back on their feed, they usually come in and help or will want to pay back what they received from the pantry.“We couldn’t do without the Northwest Arkansas Food Bank,” she said. The pantry spends approximately $25,000 a year with the Food Bank.

It would be hard to get the quantity of food the pantry gives out without the buying power of the Food Bank.About 20 percent of the food handed out at the pantry is donated and the remaining 80 percent, which is mainly staple items, is purchased from the Food Bank.In addition, the pantry is a USDA commodities distributor so those who qualify can receive government surplus food, such as milk, beans, meat and pantry staples, she said.

The pantry places its Food Bank order and then picks up items to restock the shelves on Tuesday, she said. Volunteers stock the shelves so the pantry is ready for business on Wednesday and Thursday.

While it doesn’t see a lot of elderly at the pantry, Thiede said, most of the head of the household clients fall in the 35 to 55 age range. They see a lot of walk-ins, but the pantry serves clients in Benton, Carroll, Madison and Washington counties. Only people from Washington County can receive USDA commodities, she added.

As a client-choice pantry, the clients check off items they need and volunteers fill out the orders while the clients wait. The pantry has a core group of approximately 25 volunteers, but has a pool of approximately 50 volunteers who can be called on to help. In addition to picking up food, clients sit and meet with encouragers, who pray, talk and give assistance with other needs, she said. The pantry provides food and spiritual needs.The clients are part of the church’s extended family, she said. Often times, she stop and talk with clients who she sees while she’s out around town.

“I like to see how things are going,” she said. “I don’t want them to be a number.”

The pantry is open weekly from 9 to 11:30 a.m. on Wednesday and Thursday and from 5:30 to 7 p.m. on the second Wednesday of each month. For more information, contact the church at 479-750-5229 or go to its website at firstchurchspringdale.org.