With the food bank, we're trying to bring that other story out. We fed 2,200 people last month. That's a lot of people."
The food bank isn't just for Meridian residents. Lately it has been serving more people from Kuna, Star, Emmett and other nearby towns, said volunteer Brandi Walker, food bank operations director.
COLLABORATION FOR COMMUNITY
The food bank began in 1999 in an unused building owned by Valley Shepherd.
A few years later, the church combined forces with the Optimist Club and Church of the Holy Nativity, which also had started a food bank.
The group got its 501(c)(3) nonprofit status in 2006 and continued to involve more community organizations.
"This isn't a church thing," Clark said. "Some of us are doing this work because that's what Jesus told us to do. For other volunteers, it's what their heart tells them to do. Either way, it's fine with us."
The Meridian Food Bank is part of the Idaho Foodbank network and receives donations from that agency.
The food bank also got a HUD grant through the City of Meridian and is applying for a second grant.
Clark and Walker, who calls her work "a labor of love," can rattle off the names of businesses that have helped the food bank.
"No one organization could pull this off," Clark said.
Just recently, the food bank got an unexpected call from Computrol, a local electronics company. Workers there had organized an office challenge. In two weeks, they collected 3,000 pounds of food, and wanted the Meridian Food Bank to have it.
The food bank is always in need of volunteers like Liberty, who as a kid dreamed of joining the Peace Corps.
"The Meridian Food Bank isn't outer Mongolia," she said, "but it's still helping."
Anna Webb: 377-6431
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