Ginny Bryant: Volunteer helping herself
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Photo by Elizabeth Courtney Randolph/USI |
Ginny Bryant volunteers once a month at The King’s Closet and Food Pantry in Norris City, Illinois.
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On the second Saturday of every month, Ginny Bryant, assistant director of Development, is at a desk at The King’s Closet and Food Pantry in Norris City, Illinois. She lives in the small town located about 53 miles from Evansville.
It is an eight-year tradition for Bryant and her mother Wilma Shepherd to volunteer at the pantry. On Thursdays, Shepherd helps sack bags with groceries and sorts clothing items. On Saturday they join forces to serve the store.
“After my father’s death, volunteering with me filled a social need for mother,” Bryant said. “She found the fellowship and service satisfying.” A recent illness has limited Shepherd’s work at the pantry.
The pantry also stocks gently used furniture, toys, clothing, and household goods for patrons in addition to nonperishable food items.
Bryant said, “Rummage sales are not popular in southeastern Illinois. People bring their used items to the pantry.”
Volunteers who sort clothes often repair minor rips in the clothing or remove small spots. They sort the clothing by size and gender and offer it free to those in need.
The Crossroads Bible Church congregation sponsors the store, and the pantry operates from a large building on church property.
With her technology skills, Bryant has been tapped to keep records of the families the pantry serves weekly. She estimates 135 people visit while the pantry is open from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturdays. That number increases as the cold weather and holidays approach.
She recalls helping find a snowsuit for a 13-month old child. “A young mother and her daughter came on a cold morning with no coat or blanket for the baby. I remember the child’s skin was red with cold. The girl’s eyes lit up when we were able to fit her with a warm cover.”
“We serve young and old. Young families need formula and diapers and older people need food and clothing,” she said.
A manufacturer of cosmetics and skin care gives a generous supply of discontinued and overstocked products, including toys, to the pantry. “We have to limit such items to individuals, because the first in line wants it all.”
The King’s Closet serves people in southeastern Illinois in Fairfield, Harrisburg, Equality, New Haven, Cave-in-Rock, and other cities. “Now we see families carpool to visit the pantry because of the increase in gas prices,” Bryant said.
At a time in Bryant’s life when she was going through difficult times, she said she felt she was needy. The volunteer work left an impact on her. “I could see how blessed I was in comparison to these people and the problems they were facing.”
Kathy Funke
News & Information Services
812/465-7050 or kfunke@usi.edu
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