Malmstrom helps feed local families with St. Vincent

Thanks to a new partnership with the commissary at Malmstrom Air Force Base, the food bank at St. Vincent de Paul has received 1,300 pounds of food this summer.

The Malmstrom commissary participates in the Feds Feed Families program that nationally has donated 3.1 million pounds of food over the last five years.

The program typically runs June through August, but this year was extended through September, said Jerry Contreras, store director at Malmstrom.

Last year, Malmstrom donated 1,450 pounds of food through the program, Contreras said, and it set a goal to donated 2,000 pounds this year.

“We want to hit that. We want to surpass it,” he said.

This summer is the second year the base has partnered with St. Vincent and hopes to continue the partnership, Contreras said.

The commissary staff puts together brown paper bags that customers can pick up when they check out and pay $9.91 for the bag, which is then collected and donated to St. Vincent.

Contreras and Joe Merrick, another commissary employee, said they worked with St. Vincent staff to put popular items in the bags.

The bags include: 16.3-ounce jars of peanut butter, 32-ounce jars of grape jelly, applesauce cups, 16-ounce boxes of spaghetti, 24-ounce cans of spaghetti sauce, travel sizes of toothpaste, bar soap, shampoo, men’s and women’s deodorant and a toothbrush.

“It’s important stuff,” said Jan Cameron, director of charity/outreach at St. Vincent’s.

The toiletry items also help those who might have a job interview and not otherwise have access to those items if they’ve fallen on hard time, said Isaac Wurtz, the food bank manager.

“For the kids, they love spaghetti and applesauce,” Wurtz said. “Everything helps.”

Col. Tom Wilcox, 341st Missile Wing commander, has been seen buying the bags on a number of occasions and dropping them in the donation box, Contreras said.

Another airman, Staff Sgt. Toni Wiser, has coordinated base efforts this year by placing collection boxes at various locations on base for airmen, civilians and their families to drop off dry goods, Contreras said.

One commissary employee raided her pantry and donated more than 100 pounds of food, he said.

It ties in with their emphasis on connecting with the local community, Contreras said.

The commissary also donates items that are no longer sellable, but are still consumable such as lunch meat and fresh chicken. It freezes those items and volunteers with St. Vincent to pick up the items.

So far this year, that program has donated 24,532 pounds of food to the food bank.

“That’s a sizable amount that would have ended up in the garbage,” Merrick said.

Wurtz said that because of those donations, he hasn’t had to purchase any of those types of items this year and has been able to use those funds for other needed items at the food bank and to supply more food to those in need.

He said that one woman cried and thanked them for food saying, “You don’t know how much this means to us.”

Wurtz said he hears those stories daily and, “I like what I’m doing. When I get home at night, I feel good.”

This year, the food bank has given away 95.9 tons of food, Cameron said.

“You know what it’s like to be hungry for an hour,” Merrick said. “Imagine what it’s like to be hungry for days.”