Brown County Press

HCAT holds food pantry in Hamersville

The Hamersville Community Action Team (HCAT) partnered with the Interparish Mobile Food Pantry from Cincinnati, part of the Freestore Foodbank, to gift free groceries to families Aug. 31. Photo provided

All experience trying times in their life or are barely scraping by to make ends meet. Acts of kindness, no matter the scale, always impact greater than thought. Families were spared from the worry of buying daily groceries on the week of Aug. 31.

The Hamersville Community Action Team (HCAT) partnered with the Interparish Mobile Food Pantry from Cincinnati, part of the Freestore Foodbank, to gift free groceries to families. Invitations were graciously extended to anyone that could attend. The food drive was held for a couple of hours at the Hamersville Church of Christ on 203 West Main Street. Despite being the first food drive that HCAT held, it was highly successful.

Churches throughout Hamersville offered their aid to HCAT, coming together to form a volunteer team of 70! Cars were welcomed to drive through the Hamersville Church of Christ’s parking lot at 10 o’clock on Wednesday, August 31. As vehicles drew near the volunteers’ station, they opened their trunks for groceries. Volunteers greeted everyone with cheerful welcomes and smiles. They presented each family with 5 bags of groceries each filled with one category: meat, canned food, produce, fruit, and cakes. The variety granted people the ability to create nice, well-balanced meals with a special treat. The reception was remarkable; however, HCAT eventually ran out of groceries to give and had to turn people away. Due to the great success of the food drive, HCAT and the Interparish Mobile Food Pantry will be partnering again in the future! A quota of at least 100 people needed to attend the food drive in order for Interparish Mobile Food Pantry to return; HCAT exceeded the number with 150 people attending. “There is such a need for this program in our area,” Teresa Gall, president of HCAT remarked. It’s heartening to have the pleasure of helping so many others.

Far before the food drive had begun, a car was already sitting in the church’s parking lot. When the volunteers arrived and began preparing for the event, they noticed an elderly gentleman was sitting in the car. Upon approaching him, they discovered that he had been sitting in the parking lot since around 5 o’clock in the morning. The man faced difficulty in both his sight and hearing. He explained that he had no one to bring him so he drove himself. Volunteers swiftly brought him his share of groceries so he could return to the comforts of his home. “We really need to take better care of our seniors.” Teresa communicated, her heart full of empathy. “I will keep him and others like him in my prayers.” The community is deeply grateful for the time that the volunteers, HCAT, and the Interparish Mobile Food Pantry took to gift families with groceries. Heartfelt appreciation goes to HCAT for organizing the food drive and other events to help family, friends, and neighbors.