{"id":73528,"date":"2016-08-09T21:04:36","date_gmt":"2016-08-10T03:04:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/grange-fundraising-60000-for-community-food-bank\/"},"modified":"2016-08-10T03:04:36","modified_gmt":"2016-08-10T03:04:36","slug":"grange-fundraising-60000-for-community-food-bank","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/grange-fundraising-60000-for-community-food-bank\/","title":{"rendered":"Grange fundraising $60,000 for community food bank"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"Members
Members of the Mount Lookout Grange, Mancos FoodShare, and Tiopsaye Outreach Group are teaming up to expand the grange to house a community food bank and commercial kitchen. The expansion would be added on to the east side of the building at 680 Grand Ave. in Mancos.<\/span>Jim Mimiaga\/The Journal<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

To combat hunger in the community, the Mount Lookout Grange, Mancos FoodShare and Tiopsaye Outreach Group have embarked on a $60,000 fundraising campaign to build a Mancos food pantry for those in need.<\/p>\n

For years, the Lookout Grange hall at 680 Grand Ave. has hosted community dinners, classes and meetings.<\/p>\n

Now the organization plans to expand the building by about 425 square feet to make room for a commercial kitchen and food pantry.<\/p>\n

\u201cHunger does exist in our county and town,\u201d Mancos FoodShare director Gretchen Groenke said during a meeting at the grange Aug. 4. \u201cThis project allows for food to be stored and gives people more access to healthy food year-round.\u201d<\/p>\n

Families in economically depressed areas like Montezuma County often struggle to provide healthy food for their family, she said.<\/p>\n

According to the Colorado Department of Health, 55 percent of children in the county qualify for free and reduced lunches at school. Statewide, the average is 42 percent. In the Mancos school district, 59 percent of students qualify for free and reduced lunch.<\/p>\n

Groenke said food and nutrition needs in the community outweigh local resources because of lack of storage. Too often, there is no place for farmers to donate vegetables, eggs, meat, and dairy products that don\u2019t sell at the market.<\/p>\n

\u201cA food pantry addresses those needs by allowing us to share our abundance from farms and gardens,\u201d Groenke said. \u201cFor example, let\u2019s not waste all of those apricots falling off the trees this year.\u201d<\/p>\n

As part of the project, the grange\u2019s kitchen will be expanded and upgraded so it can be certified for commercial use. That certification would allow for food to be preserved, such as by canning, freezing, and dehydration, and then given away through the pantry.<\/p>\n

Under the plan, the commercial kitchen would also be used for public cooking classes and could be rented out to cottage businesses to make products for sale. The food pantry would have a separate public entrance from the main grange hall. Mancos FoodShare has been looking for a permanent home. They were recently denied use of the Mancos Community Center for their base operations.<\/p>\n

Local farmer Kathryn Fulton, of Kestral Farms, was supportive of the grange\u2019s food pantry project.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe biggest problem I have is no one will take the extra produce that I grow, so I\u2019m thrilled to be able to bring it here,\u201d she said at the meeting.<\/p>\n

So far $12,000 of the $60,000 needed for the project has been raised. For more information, or to donate money or materials, go to bit.ly\/mancosfoodshare<\/p>\n

jmimiaga@the-journal.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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