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By James Wynn
Staff Writer The small yellow house at 218 Garfield sits inconspicuously back from the road. Its bare yard and small driveway belie the substance of what lay inside. Inside the narrow entryway, the warmth from the one propane heater in the corner of the room barely is felt, giving out small waves of warmth, quickly dispersed by the 20-degree weather overpowering it before the door can be shut. But it is a different kind of warmth that creeps through the five-room, single-story building. It is the warmth that hope gives out. While at first glance, the small, yellow house may seem insignificant, it is actually one of the most important buildings in the county. It is the Care and Share Food Bank, and for the past 20 years, it has been giving those in Fremont County who are less fortunate food to put on their table. Kelly Inglet, in her coordinator role for the food bank barely a year, stands by the heater wearing a heavy coat. The food bank just received several cases of egg nog, and barely anything else fits in the two refrigerators that anchor the rear room of the building. “You never really know what you are going to get in,” she said. The Lander Care and Share Food Bank relies heavily on donations to help fill its shelves. As a result, the bank can get anything from the boxes and boxes of egg nog, to bags of flour to the odd bottle of roasted raspberry chipolte sauce. And it all goes out as fast as it comes in. “We get anywhere from 700 to 1,000 individuals per month,” Inglet said. The food bank works on a shoestring budget. What it can’t get from donations, Inglet has to buy with grants from the Food Bank of the Rockies in Denver. The grant Inglet received this year was $4,000 less than the one she received last year. On top of that, the building Inglet and her dedicated staff of volunteers have to work out has no running water. The sewer system needs to be replaced, too. “The price tag on the new sewer line is about $2,500,” Inglet said. With the uphill battle almost always against her, Inglet doesn’t for a moment consider that the fight is just too great to be won. For Inglet, giving up isn’t an option. “People need to eat,” she said. Ruth Frericks started the Lander Care and Share Food Bank in 1986. The Atlantic City Iron Ore mine had just shut down. Hundreds of families were out of work and times were difficult. Frericks saw a need in the community that could be filled by the community. It was the idea of neighbors helping neighbors. And 20 years later, it is the root of everything the food bank still stands for. In her short time as coordinator, Inglet has been expanding the role the food bank serves in the community. “I’ve recently added a book exchange,” she said. “And we have begun asking people to bring in some of their old coats so we can give them away. It’s hard to believe, but there are people we are trying to reach that desperately need coats.” Inglet also has expanded the food bank hours to include the evening. “Some people have to work during the day and just aren’t able to get away,” she said. “This will help.” It is 10:30 a.m. on a Thursday. The Food Bank has just opened. The shelves in the back room, behind the main office and entry, are looking slightly bare. It’s in between two major holidays, and the thinned out shelves are a problem Inglet faces often. “We try to provide enough food to help out an entire family,” Inglet said. “We try to pack a box according to family size. The hardest part is not knowing if we are going to have enough food.” But just as she says that, a volunteer from the First Baptist Church pops her head in the door. “We have some boxes out here for you,” the volunteer said before starting to unload box after box of canned goods, cereal and staple items. Inglet looks elated. That constant hill she is struggling to climb just got a little less steep. “This always happens,” she said. “When the shelves are bare, someone always walks in with a box of food.” The process for becoming a recipient of the Lander Care and Share is almost as easy as donating to the bank. If you are in need, Inglet said, come in and get support. No questions asked. That is, after all, the idea behind community. “Sometimes,” Inglet said, “people just need help.”  |
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