CASPER, Wyo. — Debra Davis seemed more stunned than emotional when she saw a large prop check made out for $25,000 on Tuesday evening.
Davis, Joshua’s Storehouse executive director, had just stepped out of a scheduled meeting with board members to find a group of First Interstate employees standing in the pantry’s distribution center.
(Dan Cepeda, Oil City News)
She admitted later that her initial stoic expression was just a façade. “It was a complete surprise,” she said later. “I tried to be strong, but I really did have tears. It’s just incredible.”
Rénee LaFebre, a First Interstate Bank employee and member of the Joshua’s Storehouse board, was instrumental in applying for the bank’s “Believe in Local” initiative, a program that donates $1 million to local nonprofit organizations spread across its footprint.
She submitted a request for the pantry over the past few years, and this time it was awarded. “I found out at the beginning of May, so I’ve had to keep it a secret,” she said.
It couldn’t have happened at a better time, said Davis. Federal grants that help support everything from food assistance to arts programs have been under siege since the Trump administration took office earlier this year. The effects were felt almost immediately by the food pantry even as demand for assistance continues to rise.
(Dan Cepeda, Oil City News)
This past March, the Food Bank of Wyoming was informed it would lose hundreds of thousands of dollars in grants, even as food insecurity has reached its highest level in Wyoming over the past 10 years, the organization said.
“We pick up once a week from the Food Bank, and whatever’s been available had decreased,” said Davis. It’s also seen significant decreases in donated food from local businesses.
“We get a lot more new families coming in and signing up,” she said. “So we’ve gone from 40 households a day to 65 to 70 a day, including our homeless population. The food need has just really increased.” In the meantime, Davis said the food stock has dwindled significantly. “We really just don’t have a lot; we’re already running low on food.”
The money will help Joshua’s Storehouse purchase food to make up for what it’s lost for the time being. However, it will need more community support moving forward.
“We really rely on our community partners and the people in our community for donations and volunteering,” she said.
(Dan Cepeda, Oil City News)
