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In the small, close-knit community of Eminence, Mo., a food pantry located in the heart of town has a lot of heart for its residents. “Our pantry thrives on bringing joy, compassion and helping others in all aspects of their lives,” says Patty Raye Jones, director of Eminence Food Pantry, which has served as a focal point of aid and support for their neighbors for nearly eight years.

Located in the Assembly of God church in Eminence, the Eminence Food Pantry is completely run by volunteers and serves around 275 individuals during each monthly food distribution – an important service in a county where poverty rates are nearly twice as high as the national average. “Our church is the go-to church for any type of assistance, but our community is completely involved in making everything run like clockwork,” Patty shares.

Volunteers at the food pantry come from all over the community. Individuals from other churches, the local high school, and even inspired pantry recipients who want to give back come together to make monthly food distributions possible. With community support, Eminence Food Pantry is also able to connect neighbors to other resources like clothing from the local thrift store, SNAP applications and affordable housing.

“The giving spirit is what I really appreciate in the hearts of our volunteers,” shares Patty. “Volunteers will often give rides home or to doctor appointments. We have one volunteer who can do building repairs, another who can work on cars, and they’ll go out to help. We have a full heart for our community.”

Their full hearts have been on display through every up and down since the pantry’s start eight years ago, establishing them as a resource for neighbors in need. One of the most prominent examples was the pantry’s role in disaster relief in 2017 after historic flooding damaged many parts of the town. The church and pantry were pivotal to their community’s recovery by gathering food and other disaster relief items from multiple sources, including Ozarks Food Harvest, and distributing them to residents affected by the flood. More recently, Eminence Food Pantry continues to be critical for hundreds of people seeking food assistance as costs of groceries, housing and childcare rise.

Eminence is a rural town whose economy is fueled by seasonal tourism and the logging industry, which means local job opportunities dwindle in the winter months and many residents have to make long commutes to work in neighboring cities. Those long commutes pose a challenge, especially when prices of transportation and basic necessities are inflated.

“Inflation is affecting the people who need us, and it’s affecting our ability to serve,” Patty shares. “We rely a lot on donated product, but costs have gone up on purchasing [food] and that’s stressing us.”

A partnership with Ozarks Food Harvest alleviates some of that burden by providing and delivering food to Eminence Food Pantry monthly. Patty says, “We couldn’t do this without Ozarks Food Harvest, not to the level we’re able to. It’s an amazing injection of hope to our community.”

A perfect storm of high costs and an increased demand for food assistance are posing a challenge to The Food Bank’s network of partner charities, but despite the adversity, Patty knows that Eminence Food Pantry volunteers will continue to lift up their neighbors with compassionate hearts. Ozarks Food Harvest looks forward to many more years of working with the pantry to help the Eminence community thrive.