Dinner supports area food shelf

“We got excited and built the building before we could pay for it,” said Larry Sipe, chairman of the Neighborhood Service Center (NSC) board.  A fundraiser to help fix this oversight was held Saturday, Feb. 11 at the American Legion hall. The event, which raised about $3,200  featured  a dinner, silent auction, bake sale, and meat raffle.

All the food for the dinner – ham, turkey, potatoes, beans, and rolls – came from the NSC's food shelf. “It's so people can see the quality of the food. You know, it's not stuff that's about to go rotten,” Sipe explained. In a similar vein, many of the 20  items on the silent auction were sourced from the NSC's thrift store. All items on the bake sale were donations, and according to Sipe went very quickly at the start of the fundraiser. Ten meat raffles were held over the course of the evening, run by Jack and Mary Williams. Jack Williams has been on the NSC board for about six months.

All of the board members turned out to help – even more than could be put to work, leaving some to support the fundraiser by buying a plate. Many of the NSC's staff also attended to work or eat. “I'm a figurehead,” Sipe said, eager to credit those who put work into the fundraiser. Gretchen Priebe was the primary organizer for the evening. “It wouldn't have happened without Gretchen,” Sipe observed. Gary Huckfeldt, one of two co-coordinators for the food shelf, was kept busy all evening cooking alongside seven-year board member Jim Britton. His fellow co-coordinator, Niki Schaffer, served dessert. She wants people to know that, in addition to helping pay for the new building, cash donations to the food shelf are always the most effective form of support. The food shelf is able to stretch money up to ten times further than it goes at grocery store prices, so while food donations are always appreciated, money simply does more. Schaffer was very pleased with the turnout for the night's fundraiser. “Seeing the community together, supporting a nonprofit, makes us feel like we're important – like we matter.”

The NSC consists of three branches – the food shelf, the thrift store, and the outreach programs. Many people are struggling now, as SNAP benefits were reduced. The food shelf serves about 120 area families each week. A related outreach program, the Backpack Program, provides food to about 160 kids every weekend.

After the food shelf lost a previous base in the former Eagles building, Sipe said churches have been a big help to the charity. St. John's housed the food shelf for about a year, Sacred Heart lent its freezers, and the NSC board has been meeting at St. Paul's. Still, the NSC is grateful and excited to have a place of its own again.