Valley Heart Assembly of God recently opened its doors to provide the Rainier community with a new food pantry in the entryway of the church.
The food pantry will coexist alongside the Thurston County Food Bank’s pop-up food pantry outside of the church, located at 11318 Vail Cut Off Road SE in Rainier.
Valley Heart Food Pantry will be open from 9:30 a.m. to noon every Wednesday and Saturday, while Thurston County Food Bank’s pop-up is open at the same time every second and fourth Wednesday of the month.
Valley Heart Pastors Pat Cooley and Samantha Dickerson were inspired to develop a food pantry after the Rainier Emergency Food Center moved to Tenino last month. They said numerous people rely on the food bank, so they jumped in to help.
“We had a lot of their customers come through our parking lot that were pretty much stranded,” Dickerson said. “They said they don’t have the money to go the extra seven miles down the road [to Tenino]. So, we were feeling that the Lord was leading us to try out a food pantry. So we’re trying it out.”
The church learned of the Rainier Emergency Food Center’s relocation in mid-December and organized its food pantry in two weeks. Dickerson said it was important to open quickly because the need was so great in Rainier.
“We felt like we couldn’t wait. Yelm Prairie Christian Center reached out to us and said they would help us,” Dickerson said. “There’s been other people that have brought in donations and money, so it’s been a real community effort.”
Valley Heart is accepting donations of mostly non-perishable food items, but perishable items are acceptable as well.
The church has a variety of canned goods, cereal, pasta, vegetables and more available.
Thurston County Food Bank has offered pop-up pantries for several years, serving bread items, meat, produce, canned goods, commodities for seniors and more. The food is served by a mix of variety and staff from the food bank.
“Our priority has always been to get food into people’s homes quickly. It’s really important to us to cover any spot we can that has needs,” said Jonathan Salt, the food bank’s procurement and distribution specialist.
Not only is the food pantry an opportunity for Rainier’s residents to find relief in the form of food for their families, it’s also a chance to learn about Jesus Christ, Cooley said.
“My vision is that when people come in here, we make them feel at home. I want them to feel comfortable. Some people are embarrassed to come in here,” said Cooley, who helped the Rainier Emergency Food Center for eight years.
“I saw it at the food bank. They will come in, and maybe we’ll get them in here for service on Saturday. It’s all about introducing them to Jesus.”
