The BG Christian Pantry is making sure that needy families have something to eat this holiday season.
Shirley Woessner, the director of the BG Christian Pantry, oversees the operations of the Pantry.
Woessner has been the director for the last ten years now.
“I’m in charge of organizing the volunteers, making sure we have what we need and making sure we have volunteers to work,” Woessner said.
The volunteers are the center of the BG Christian Pantry, Woessner said.
“We couldn’t do it without the volunteers,” Woessner said.
Roosevelt Chandler is one such volunteer. He’s been volunteering at the BG Christian Pantry for a little over a year now.
“I thought it was a worthwhile task to perform for the needy,” Chandler said.
Chandler volunteers every Monday and sometimes takes a leadership position at the Pantry.
“I respond to everyone’s needs and take care of problems as they arise and work out a solution,” Chandler said.
Nancy Preston, also a volunteer at the pantry, helps out by donating some food to the pantry.
“One day a week I bring food to the pantry to help out,” Preston said.
The Pantry has been serving the Bowling Green Community since 1984, Woessner said.
It generally serves about 200 to 250 people a month, about a third of which are children under 13, Woessner said.
This Thanksgiving, the Pantry, in partnership with the Salvation Army, helped 275 families by donating food baskets containing Thanksgiving meals to the needy.
“This year we put together baskets containing a variety of things like pasta, soup, fruits, vegetables and a ham or a turkey,” Woessner said.
The Pantry gets a lot of its food through donations but what it doesn’t get, it buys from the Toledo Food bank, Woessner said.
“We can get most items for 18 cents a pound [at the Food Bank],” Woessner said. “We buy most of our food in bulk.”
The food that does get donated mostly comes from organizations like churches and businesses, Woessner said.
“We often get monetary donations from businesses,” Woessner said. “We use those donations to purchase more food for the pantry.”
If someone would like to donate to the BG Christian Food Pantry or volunteer, they can go to their location at 317 Gould St or call them at 419-353-5174.
