GleanKY deliver produce from Costco for Lexington Calvary Church of the Nazarene.
Samantha Rodarte was a parent at Cardinal Valley Elementary School, advocating for the needs of Cardinal Valley’s children. Matthew Cole, pastor of Lexington Calvary Church of the Nazarene, was searching for ways for his church to cultivate authentic relationships with the community around them. Both were deeply concerned by the acute lack of resources available for the surrounding neighborhoods.
“Ours is a neighborhood that sits for the most part on the margins,” Cole said. “Many of the homes are single parent homes and those that are not are often on limited income and with limited resources.”
Through a partnership between the Cardinal Valley Elementary School PTA, Lexington Calvary Church of the Nazarene, and GleanKY, the Cardinal Valley food pantry was born in late 2013. While GleanKY’s long list of recipient sites consists mainly of agencies that have long been established, the Cardinal Valley site is an exciting exception, an example of a collaborative effort between neighborhood forces.
The church often receives thousands of pounds of produce gleaned from the local Costco.
Many of the households in Cardinal Valley “do not often qualify for certain government and community systems of assistance,” Cole explained. Because of this, many families “will on a regular basis have to make a decision between a healthy grocery list or being able to cover utilities such as heat or electricity, or whether or not to cover medical costs.”
Cardinal Valley’s partnership with GleanKY turned out to be a great fit. The food pantry received 15,800 pounds of fresh fruits and vegetables in 2014, with a majority of the gleaned produce having come from the newly opened Costco. Receiving produce through GleanKY brought nutritious food alternatives into the Cardinal Valley community and alleviated some of the financial stress families experience. “We were able to get $15 – $30 of healthy food into homes on a weekly basis,” Cole said.
“When [people] began to receive the produce, they seemed shy and uncertain,” Rodarte said. “But now, every week it’s like a family reuniting. It has helped individuals with diabetes who have not been able to purchase the necessary foods.”
The back of GleanKY’s van is filled with potatoes for the church.
The Cardinal Valley food pantry is a model for individuals and organizations within a community collaborating in innovative ways to bring in more resources for their most vulnerable neighbors. The food pantry exemplifies GleanKY’s commitment to working with Neighborhood Ambassadors, people who are dedicated to strengthening the community in which they live. As Cole explained, “[w]e, as a church, are now connected to over 70 families … that we never even had the chance to meet until becoming a distribution point alongside [GleanKY].”
As Rodarte puts it, “It’s a beautiful thing that has happened here.”