Each Month Castle Country Radio likes to spotlight an organization working to better the lives of the residents of the Castle Country area. This month we shine that spotlight on the Carbon County Food Bank, which during this holiday season looks to provide meals for families in need.
Castle Country Radio sat down with Equity and Community Services Director Julie Rosier to talk about the food bank and its importance to the residents of Castle Country.
In opening, Rosier spoke on the mission of the food bank,” The mission is to provide access and opportunity to those in need to become increasingly self-sufficient and independent through innovative, comprehensive services, and collaborative efforts with local, state, and federal partnerships.” Rosier moved on to the topic of how this mission is accomplished,” a lot of it is with collaboration with our community members, with state partners, federal partnerships, and that might be for funding grants. And it’s also working with individuals to provide case management and the tools and the resources to help them meet their needs and get on the path to reaching self-sufficiency.”
This Charity of the Month collaboration also comes with a special event. To help fulfill the food bank’s’ need for collaboration on the local level, Castle Country Radio has teamed up with the Carbon County Food Bank to host a charity food drive. This contest will run from Monday, Nov. 4, and last until Monday, Dec. 2, and will be a contest between stations KARB and KRPX, namely those stations’ morning show hosts Dave Hocanson and Mallery Dunn.
Participants are encouraged to donate food to their favorite station/personality as both vie for a year of bragging rights. Donation locations are at Castle Country Radio located at 1899 N Carbonville Road, Anytime Fitness at 652 W Price River Dr. and the Carbon County Food Bank at 252 S Fairgrounds Road.
Rosier explained the types of items the food bank wants to receive during this contest,” I always say anything is always appreciated. But ever since the pandemic, some things we do not receive very often are a lot of your proteins, like peanut butter and tuna fish. Also with holidays coming up, it’s always awesome to be able to give turkeys or hams to those families in need.”
If you don’t have any food to give away, monetary donations will also be accepted at the Food Bank, where every dollar donated is equal to a pound of food.
Rosier then took the time to discuss the application process and how the food bank operates,” for families that are needing food, they can just come to The Food Bank. There’s a very short application and a few required documents, like a picture ID and income form. If they don’t have income, there’s a form they can fill out. And if you come the first time, you don’t have those documents, that’s fine. We’ll still give you food and give you a list of the things that we need from there.” She continued,” And The Food Bank is open Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, from noon to 2 p.m.”
In addition to the food donations, the food bank is also looking for volunteers to help in the crusade against hunger,” if someone wants to volunteer, or even groups, or get together with your friends and come and volunteer, they can contact me, Julie, at 435-613-0065, and I will kind of go through it, set up some dates with them, and walk them through the process.”
In closing, Rosier spoke on the impact the food bank has on the community,” The impact is huge. You know, food insecurity has risen drastically over the past few years. We see that more and more with the rising cost of rent, utilities, and food itself, and it’s so amazing to be able to help increase food security or provide meals for families that may not otherwise have the means to either purchase it or get it somewhere else. So, it’s pretty amazing.”
The Carbon County Food Bank is located at 252 S Fairgrounds Road in Price and operates Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday from noon to 2 p.m. You can also reach the food bank by phone at 435-637-9232.