SNOHOMISH — The Snohomish Seventh-Day Adventist Church will be opening a new food pantry this week that is available to anyone in need of food. The food pantry will be open every Thursday from noon to 4 p.m. The address of the church is 505 Ave. D.
Church director Bill Lusk and Pastor Kim Berg started organizing and coordinating the volunteer-run pantry this year to accommodate for the increased need for food due to the devastation of COVID-19.
It could help bring the community back together.
The stay at home order during the pandemic caused a lot of churches to lose some of their longtime members, resulting in a smaller church community, Lusk said. The food pantry would provide support during tough times, he said.
“So the pandemic kind of devastated, a lot of the older people didn't come back… we'd always planned on doing something of this nature trying to reach out in the community,” said Lusk.
Lusk described that the process of arranging the food pantry has been relatively easy and straightforward due to the support from Pastor Kim Berg and his wife. Lusk has also had a lot of experience with the public which has also helped the process move smoothly.
“I'm familiar with working with the public and, you know, giving away books, Bibles and things like that,” said Lusk.
The food pantry will receive their food donations from the food distribution source Farmer Frog located in the Snohomish River Valley.
“The goal would be to give away 35 boxes of food that we pick up from the source,” said Lusk.
The food pantry would like to give away as much food as it can. If you are in need of food, or know someone in need, then you can come to the church every Thursday.
“If I were to, let’s say we get 30 boxes of food each week. If I give away all 30 boxes that would be heaven bless,” said Lusk.
If you are interested in supporting the church you can help by donating money to help support its mission. Lusk said any monetary donations will be passed on to Farmer Frog.
You can also show support by volunteering. Lusk describes the best way to go about volunteering is to come down to their church on Avenue D.
“If they want to help out, they can just come up and ask us and come to the church. We would welcome any,” said Lusk.
Food donations update on Sept. 18, 2023:
The food pantry is now taking food donations as long as they are vegetarian or vegan in nature. The church endorses a vegetarian diet. To donate food, drop off at the church on Thursday afternoons noon to 4 p.m., or drop off vegetarian non-perishables at the rear of the church.
