October 2, 2019
Filling the gap
Bringing a food pantry to Garrison
BY DIANE NEWBERRY
The Great Plains Food Bank in Bismarck estimates that one in every nine people in the region struggle with hunger, but though it’s the largest city in McLean County, Garrison does not have its own food pantry. A concerned group of citizens, primarily lead by Dawn Kolden and Nancy Leidholm, have come together to change that.
The group began meeting in April with the goal of starting a pantry, and when a space became available with the recent closing of Lazy J’s, plans started moving fast for the new Garrison Area Resource Center.
Kolden explained that Garrison used to get mobile food pantry deliveries from the Great Plains Food Bank, but service stopped in 2016.
“It’s a Band-Aid,” Kolden said of the mobile service. “It’s not a solution to the problem.”
Alisa Dahl, also on the board for the new pantry, said the food bank has been “encouraging communities that have a need to fulfill that need from within.
The need
Both Dahl and Kolden said they have encountered skepticism that Garrison is in need of a pantry, but that studies show hunger is often a silent problem.
“People aren’t very vocal that need it,” Dahl said. “They just go elsewhere, or they go without.”
According to the Census Bureau, Garrison’s poverty level is 11.3 percent, but Dahl and Kolden said poverty level alone isn’t an indicator of a community’s need.
“I don’t want people to think the only people coming to a food pantry are those that are under a certain income level,” Dahl said. “If we’re going to partner with Great Plains Food Bank, at least fifty percent need to be under those guidelines, but there’s so many people that have a temporary situation. Maybe they had extra medical expenses. Maybe their car that gets them to work every day breaks down.”
Over three deliveries to Garrison in 2016, the Great Plains Food Bank distributed 18,000 pounds of food to an average number of 42 households.
The group began meeting in April with the goal of starting a pantry, and when a space became available with the recent closing of Lazy J’s, plans started moving fast for the new Garrison Area Resource Center.
Kolden explained that Garrison used to get mobile food pantry deliveries from the Great Plains Food Bank, but service stopped in 2016.
“It’s a Band-Aid,” Kolden said of the mobile service. “It’s not a solution to the problem.”
Alisa Dahl, also on the board for the new pantry, said the food bank has been “encouraging communities that have a need to fulfill that need from within.
The need
Both Dahl and Kolden said they have encountered skepticism that Garrison is in need of a pantry, but that studies show hunger is often a silent problem.
“People aren’t very vocal that need it,” Dahl said. “They just go elsewhere, or they go without.”
According to the Census Bureau, Garrison’s poverty level is 11.3 percent, but Dahl and Kolden said poverty level alone isn’t an indicator of a community’s need.
“I don’t want people to think the only people coming to a food pantry are those that are under a certain income level,” Dahl said. “If we’re going to partner with Great Plains Food Bank, at least fifty percent need to be under those guidelines, but there’s so many people that have a temporary situation. Maybe they had extra medical expenses. Maybe their car that gets them to work every day breaks down.”
Over three deliveries to Garrison in 2016, the Great Plains Food Bank distributed 18,000 pounds of food to an average number of 42 households.
