Editor’s Note: This continues our Celebrate Community series on North Okaloosa nonprofit organizations that improve our quality of life.
CRESTVIEW — Sharing and Caring is an emergency food pantry that provides food and hygiene supplies to those in need, and it’s been doing so since 1990.
The pantry — located at 298 Martin Luther King Ave., in Crestview — relies on donations and support from local churches and the United Way to supply non-perishable goods, bread, baby food and formula, meats and limited hygiene items.
Sharing and Caring helped 13,072 families in 2016, according to its former president Robin Marston. She spent over nine years operating the center and said she’s seen rising needs during that time.
Families can receive one order per month; the homeless can receive an order every two weeks. Homeless individuals receive an extra order per month because they often have limited space and inability to store some food, Marston said. The products and amounts S&C gives out vary based on the number of family members.
The food at S&C is secured through product donations by local churches, individuals and the United Way. Monetary donations to the food bank are used to purchase additional food. Hygiene items and products such as laundry powder are only available if they are donated to S&C, as the organization doesn’t purchase these items.
At least five churches partner with the food bank, according to Marston. However, more churches make occasional donations when able.
Publix also offers food donations and allows S&C to order bulk items through its food vendor and pick up items upon delivery. This makes large purchases easier for S&C and Publix, Marston said.
Sharing and Caring doesn’t offer clothing, shelter, monetary assistance or meal services (such as a soup kitchen), but Marston said volunteers can refer those in need to other outlets. Occasionally, S&C volunteers have offered budgeting advice to families regarding food, but it’s not the food bank’s primary function, Marston said.
Signs hung in the food bank’s waiting room detail Crestview’s various shelters and information on GED testing. The room also features a library for people to take a book or movie.
Eighteen volunteers, including Marston, help the food bank operate. These people check in families, package orders and receive incoming donations.
The center always needs volunteers or donations, according to Marston. Food items in constant need include canned goods, rice, pasta, bread, baby food and formula, diapers, cereal, powdered milk, dried beans, meat and personal hygiene items.
The facility is open 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. Monday through Thursday and volunteers work as much or as little as they are available. Call 682-1907 for details.
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Sharing and Caring: feeding families in need