To make nutritious food more available and accessible to Northland seniors, the Northland Shepherd’s Center (NSC) has started construction on the “Plate of Hope” pantry!

According to Kelley Creek, NSC Community Aging Specialist, “Since 2019, the NSC staff has talked about helping get nutritious food into the hands of our clients. We started by working with Harvesters and provided commodity boxes to some. We added our own Tasty Totes program to provide fresh produce to others. We had been looking for ways to fill the gap in addressing food insecurity and going in the direction of a food pantry will help fill that gap!”

Many grants have been written and supporters graciously helped to provide some of the financial resources needed for NSC to have its own food pantry.

The pantry needed a name, and a contest was held. It was NSC’s own Rayetta Hutchison, Administrative Assistant and Transportation Coordinator, that came up with the perfect name, Rayetta says, “The staff were standing around the copy machine reviewing pantry name submissions. When I said, ‘Plate of Hope’ everyone lit up and you could feel the rush of excitement. We all agreed it relays how this is one of the many ways we, as an organization, can offer hope to our participants.”

At ‘Plate of Hope,’ clients will shop for items, both food and hygiene items, that they are in most need of. Clients will be able to shop in person or place their order and have their order delivered!

No one should have to choose between paying for medications or utilities over food or personal care items. Growing older comes with enough uncertainties, having access to nutritious food and hygiene items should not be one of the uncertainties!

If you would like to help support NSC’s pantry, volunteer with us, or have questions about ‘Plate of Hope’, contact Kelley at kelley@northlandsc.org or call 816-452-4536.