Peabody Food Bank to receive $35,000 COVID grant
Staff writer
Peabody’s food bank will get $35,000 from a Community Development Block Grant for COVID-19 relief after it submits required documentation to the county clerk’s office.
The grant was approved Monday by county commissioners.
The grant will help the food bank well into 2021, Nate Gift, pastor of Peabody United Methodist Church and president of the Peabody Association of Churches, said.
Demand for food assistance at Peabody has doubled over the last year, from 16 families a month to 32 families a month now, Gift said.
“There are a lot of low-income families in Peabody,” he said. “We serve a lot of disabled or retired individuals.”
He said the food bank had to lengthen its hours to accommodate demand.
Food is distributed from 9 to 11:30 a.m. on the second Saturday of each month.
“It’s a fairly steady stream,” Gift said.
Besides food items, the food bank provides $35 vouchers for Peabody Market, which can be used to augment the shelf-stable items from the food bank. Vouchers can be used for fresh produce, meat, and eggs not available at the food bank.
“The community has been really good at supporting us, both with funds and donations of food,” Gift said.
The food bank also maintains a general fund that can be used when a family encounters other expenses they cannot handle.
The $35,000 grant is the first the county has given to the Peabody food bank. In October, the county gave Marion County food bank $8,575. The city of Marion in September gave the county food bank $30,000.
Between Aug. 10 and Nov. 23, the county also gave two $5,000 grants to A Little Off the Top, two $5,000 grants to Affordable Street Rods, grants of $3,098.63 and $5,000 to CK Pharmacies, two $5,000 grants to silage cutters and manure spring Hajek Enterprise in Lost Springs, two $10,000 grants to Peabody trucking company Middlecreek Corp., two $5,000 grants to Pizza Rehea’s, two $5,000 grants to Coneburg Inn, two $5,000 grants to Hatton’s Hometown Hardware, and $5,000 grants to Family Shoe Repair and Rural Route Relics.