Ivy Bend Community Food Pantry
The Ivy Bend Community Food Pantry was founded in 1994 by Donna Allen and her daughter, Tanna, with a desire to help their neighbors. The pair would gather food from family and friends, and share those donations with folks in need.
Through their work, they discovered the need was far greater than their ability to keep up with the demand. They reached out to Second Harvest, now the Columbia Food Bank. for assistance and Second Harvest began with a mobile food pantry delivering items to the Lakeview Baptist Church parking lot.
A mobile home was donated to the Ivy Bend Community Food Pantry in 2006 to store and distribute food. Another mobile home was donated in 2010, enabling their ability to meet this increasing demand.
In 2012, the food pantry applied for and received a grant to fund placing both mobile homes under a single roof, making repairs and improvements, which included a cooler, by insulating a room with two air conditioning units.
In 2014, funds were raised from a Neighborhood Assistance Program (NAP) grand to allow them to construct a new building, complete with separate commercial walk-in freezer, adequate storage and space to install a kitchen and dining hall capable of hosting and serving community functions. The new facility opened and began distributing food in June of 2015.
Residents of Ivy Bend have a facility capable of providing food for more than 330 families and 1,500 individuals with the needs providing supplemental food, education referral, and health improvement classes. The building is so much more than just a storage and distribution of food products.
There are weekly AA/NA meetings, a weekly Senior Meal program, and a Walk-with-Ease gentle exercise program three times per week. Additionally, the building is the polling place for voters in the area. In 2019, a partnership was started with Katy Trail Community Health to serve patients in the area.
The Ivy Bend Community Food Pantry has been able to fill the needs of many in the vicinity and surrounding areas since 1994 thanks to its “staff” of 35+ volunteers. These caring and compassionate individuals dedicate their time and efforts to help friends and neighbors in need.
None of this would be possible without the contributions and donations made by individuals, companies, organizations, and church affiliated groups.
The Ivy Bend Food Pantry is 100% funded by the donations it receives and only operates as a result of the volunteers who give of their time to serve people. They work with the local organizations and provide hours of community outreach to provide information, solicit donations and work toward ways to better serve those in need.