The Arnold Food Pantry plans to change its name and expand the areas it serves.
Those changes will be announced at an open house set for 5-7:30 p.m. Friday, June 14, at the pantry, 2024 Key West Drive, in Arnold. The event is open to the public.
“It is an extremely exciting time for our pantry,” said Patrick McKelvey, the organization’s executive director. “We are grateful for the overwhelming support we have received from Arnold, and I hope it is a day we can all celebrate together as we look to help more people in the future.”
McKelvey said the pantry is changing its name to clear up confusion about who is eligible for services.
The pantry serves anyone who lives inside the Fox C-6 School District and parts of the Windsor C-1 School District, not just those who live in the Arnold city limits.
“A bunch of people have thought they were not eligible for our services because they didn’t live in Arnold, but we absolutely serve them,” McKelvey said. “We service more than 100 square miles.”
McKelvey said the pantry has a combination of funds from corporate partners and other donors that will allow it to expand its services.
He also said the pantry has more than 100 volunteers who help out each week.
According to the pantry’s website at wefeedthehungry.org, the organization provides aid to more than 600 families a month.
“The board has taken the position that if we are able to help more people, we want to be able to do so,” McKelvey said.
He said the open house will allow volunteers to celebrate all the people the pantry helps, and it will provide other people an opportunity to learn more about the organization.
“There will be tours of our facility, and there will posters up telling people about how many emergency food distributions we gave out last year and how many regular client appointments we had last year,” he said.