Mountrail County Promoter - Latest News

The Mountrail Community Food Pantry provided 11,335 pounds of food to 93 Mountrail County families in April for a total of 314 people, of which 118 were children and 53 were seniors! Cashwise donated 3,211 pounds of food that Greg and Bill loaded up, hauled, unloaded and weighed, which was then stocked in our pantry to head right back out the door with our clients! Thank you, Cashwise. And thank you, gentlemen!
It seems very fitting to take a moment to express our gratitude for the years of delicious, fresh garden produce that Joyce Hollekim provided to our pantry. She never wanted any attention, of course… but I think she won’t mind now if I say a few words. Her gardens must have been amazing, judging by the beautiful veggies that she brought us throughout the summer and the fall months. She had to have poured hours and hours of labor and love into producing such spectacular crops, season after season, which made its way into the homes of hundreds of grateful families. God bless her for her giant heart. And Heaven most certainly celebrated as she returned Home. She has left a beautiful, lasting legacy here.
As for April, it was a fun month! The Girl Scouts assembled more enjoyable bags of meal items for our clients. One was a chili and one was a teriyaki chicken rice bowl. They find a simple recipe with just a few ingredients, print these recipes out, purchase the items that are needed for the recipe and put this all in a Ziploc bag. Each client gets to take one home for their family, if they so choose. Clients are loving these fun choices! What a very thoughtful idea. Thank you, Girl Scouts!
The Cub Scouts created birthday bags, purchasing cake mixes, frosting and candles, tucking them in a creatively hand-decorated paper bag, for us to give to our clients with children that have birthdays that month. Our clients enjoy the hand-decorated bags, as well as the ingredients inside! Thank you, Cub Scouts!
Women of Today dropped off some handy toiletries. We have found random grocery items sitting by our door when we arrive. And yes, we have gotten some plastic bags. Thank you all! (If anyone has extra plastic bags that they do not want, we surely do have a use for them. You can hang them on our doorknob at the pantry, if you don’t have time to bring them by on Mondays. We go through so many plastic bags every Monday!)
Even though this is April news, I am going to include this tidbit that just happened yesterday, (Monday, May 4th). Dawn came in with TWO BOXES of BRAND NEW plastic bags. Perfectly pressed, neat as a pin… that was absolutely divine! Thank you, Dawn!
Lastly, we had our biannual inspection from the Great Plains Food Bank. It went wonderfully and they commented on how nice our pantry was, the generous amounts and types of food we offered, and the accessibility of our newly renovated Memorial Building. They made a point to thank us for the service we provide and appreciate how quickly we get our reporting done each month. We passed with flying colors! None of it would be possible, however, if not for this caring community that we live in… from hard-working, dedicated volunteers, to a perfect space to operate, to kind-hearted donors of funds and food… They say “it takes a village”. I say they are right.
Our hours of operation are 12:30 to 3:00 p.m. on Mondays (except legal holidays). If you, or someone you know needs a little help in providing food for their family, please share our information with them and please feel welcome to visit our pantry. You won’t find a friendlier greeting anywhere than when you walk through our doors. Our volunteers are the best at what they do! Not only do they welcome people like they are family when they arrive, but they check them in, make certain their information is what we require, provide instructions if needed, give out a voucher if we have them to give out, weigh their food, record the weight of the food for our reporting needs, and then merrily wish everyone a good rest of the day as they walk back out the door with their food! I think it’s safe to say that people leave our pantry with a smile, feeling better about their day, in large part because of the family atmosphere that our volunteers create every Monday.
Speaking of our day’s work, we would very much appreciate it if folks would be here no later than 2:30 p.m. so we can go home by 3:00 p.m. (We have been hustling to prepare for our clients since 9:30 a.m. or so that morning, so we are plenty tired by 3:00!) We will be closed Monday, May 25th in observance of Memorial Day, as will the rest of the building. Please plan ahead. We will be open the rest of the Mondays in May, however.
If you’d like to follow us, we are on Facebook at Mountrail Community Food Pantry. You will see any announcements we may have, as well as fun photos of our food pantry donors/unloaders/occasional antics!
As promised, I will provide our address for people that would like to donate in some way. Our physical address is the Memorial Building, 18 2nd Ave SE, Stanley. The door in the southeast corner of the building is ours, if a person would like to drop off food donations, and our mailing address remains the same; 6989 84th Ave NW, Stanley, 58784. If you’d like to save postage, you can slide an envelope right under our door at the pantry, and we will find it when we arrive.
I am writing this today, sitting in the sunshine, listening to the birds singing. The wind has finally gone down, and while it’s still chilly, it is also beautiful. There is the promise of crops growing as the farmers are in the fields. There is the hopefulness that comes with planting each garden seed in the perfectly worked soil. There is a miracle inside each of these tiny seeds, created by One that sure knew what He was doing.
That hope and promise is what carries us through on the days that aren’t as easy to navigate. Some very wonderful people have unexpectedly gone Home in this last little while, and many heartfelt prayers have fervently been surrounding their families. And from what this community has shown for as long as I can remember, compassion without fail, those prayers of comfort, strength, and peace, will continue onward.
Our time here is limited, we know. But there are events like these when this knowledge really hits home. So, maybe, starting from this day forward, we can hug a little longer, shake hands a little firmer, and appreciate a little deeper.
God’s Peace be with you, comforted in the knowing that we will all be together again…
Mary