By Aidan Mortensen | KOAL News

As November marks the beginning of the holiday season, as well as signaling an increase in the use of its services, Castle Country Radio is proud to announce its November Charity of the Month as the Food Bank of Carbon and Emery Counties.

Southeastern Regional Development Agency Community Engagement Director Julie Rosier joined the KOAL newsroom to discuss the food bank, its many services and how the public can get involved.

“The food bank of Carbon and Emery Counties is a food bank where people can come and get food assistance. It’s pretty easy. We don’t turn people away. It’s a short application – just a few documents, like your income and picture ID, stuff like that. It’s just to try to help provide additional food for families.” 

As uncertain times reign supreme when it comes to federal food assistance, the food bank looks to ease the minds of residents across eastern Utah. “We’ve had an increase in customers for some time, and that’s just because of the rising cost of everything. But it does take a lot of work to get boxes made or the shelves stocked. And so we do rely heavily on volunteers and community members to help provide that additional support.”

To aid in this, Rosier explained how citizens can get involved with the food bank: “Give me a call. My phone number is 435-613-0065. We can arrange a time that works for everyone. I also want to emphasize – because I’ve had people reach out to say I have a group of people or our organization would like to volunteer, but we can’t do it unless it’s on a night or a Saturday – we’ll make that arrangement or accommodation.”

In addition to volunteer work, the food bank is always accepting donations. “We’re always looking for proteins and that could be like canned meats or peanut butter items like that. But then this time of year too, we also try to get additional things like stuffing, mixes, instant mashed potatoes or even potatoes. Things like that individuals are always asking for and needing.

For those in need of the food bank’s services, the organization offers locations in Carbon County at 252 S Fairgrounds Road in Price. In Emery County, locations are available in Castle Dale at 40 South Center Street and in Green River at 140 North Broadway.

“They just need to come and complete paperwork. If they come the first time, they don’t have to have all the required documents; they just need to complete the paperwork, and then we’ll give them a list of what they need to return,” explained Rosier. “We have so many people that, whether they’re in a short-term crisis or something’s going on, they’re so incredibly grateful for the service. Oftentimes, families don’t have other resources or family members that can help, and it makes a huge impact when maybe somebody got laid off and they don’t know how they’re going to feed their family to be able to come and get food.”

Closing our conversation, Rosier shared,” Thank you all so much. We’ve had some community members and agencies step up, and we’re very grateful for that, and we’re just happy for all the community support that we receive.”

For more information on the Food Bank of Carbon and Emery Counties, visit serda.utah.gov/food-banks.