Naples Food Cupboard receives $3,200 donation by SBFD
From left: Cheryl Klien, Don Gay, Cudi the dog, Linda Cromwell and South Boundary Fire Department Chief Tony Rohrwasser. Naples Food Cupboard received a donation from the SBFD for facility updates and food purchases.
Photo by CYNTHIA BONSANT
NAPLES — Food Cupboard receives $3,200 donation by the South Boundary Fire Department and will be using the funds for building updates and food supplies.
The SBFD raised the funds from its annual Christmas tree give-away. Young Living donated 100 trees SBPD, the firefighters cut down the trees and gave them away to community members, some donations were collected to those that could afford them.
SBFD Fire Chief Tony Rohrwasser said donations averaged out to $32 per tree.
Linda Cromwell, Food Cupboard volunteer, said that the money would go toward food and extending the porch, railing and a cover for the Food Cupboard. This will allow more people to be better protected from elements when picking up food.
Don Gay, volunteer, said that pushing out the porch will be safer for people and prevent slipping on ice durning the winter.
The Food Cupboard is re-stocked by monthly and annual donors, Cromwell said. Food comes from Super 1 and Grocery Outlet. There is a food donation drop box at the Naples Store.
“We typically don’t get fresh produce,” Gay said. “Local gardeners will give extra produce in the summer months, or the GROW's community garden organizers will let us know if there is extra produce at their garden. We will rush up there to harvest produce, since it is the only reliable way we get produce.”
When it comes to donations, the Food Cupboard cannot take anything that has been homemade. That means, homemade canned goods such as jams, jellies preservers or any homemade baked goods.
“We can take farm fresh eggs and local produce,” Cromwell said.
Food staples that Food Cupboard can always take canned veggies and fruit, pasta, rice, tomato sauce, soup and broth.
Last year, the Food Cupboard served 60 families adding up to 138 people. The number of visits per family ranged from one to 46 weeks and averaged 10.3 weeks. The average number of months a family visited was just over five. 19% of families served had one or more children under 18 years old and 10% had a family member over 62 years old.
Rohwasser said that the Food Cupboard was first created using a shed that was bought from an estate sale. Over the years it has been insulated and repaired to house the Food Cupboard. It was moved from location to location and now resides partially on Boundary County School District property next to Naples Elementary and the SBFP station one on Stagecoach road.
The Food Cupboard volunteers were uncertain if the cupboard would change locations again after the sidewalk and additions to Naples Elementary are implemented.
To qualify for donations from the Naples Food Cupboard you must live within the South Boundary Fire District. Naples Food Cupboard is open Thursday from 2-3:30 p.m. Volunteers can make deliveries. For more information, call Linda at 208-267-5717 or Don at 208-304-6075.
The Food Cupboard is looking for volunteers to help build the porch and other updates to the building.