Funviralpark Cedar Rapids, Iowa (KCRG) – The Cascade Community Food Pantry opened for the last time before it officially closed Friday morning. Pantry He has been servicing Cascade for over 40 years.
“We’ve had 30 families, 35 families before. But over the years, it goes up and down,” says Diana Myers, president of the Cascade Community Food Pantry.
Cascade’s Jeffrey Engesser is the father of seven children.
“Sometimes there are things we don’t have at home because we don’t have money. Sometimes we get laid off in the winter and don’t have it,” Engesser said.
He lives right next door to the pantry and says he’s been helping his family in times of need for over a decade.
“If I had to come, I would call her, otherwise I wouldn’t. Come only if you need to,” Engesser said.
Myers has owned the pantry for 20 years.
“We were only open once a month, but they could call me at their convenience and I would meet them here,” she explained.
Myers says the pantry has to go because the building’s owner plans to develop it into something new.
“We went everywhere knocking on doors, but just looking at one spot didn’t work. No heat, nothing, nowhere to go,” she said.
With no place to turn the pantry, it is completely closed, leaving one more option in the Cascade of St. Matthias Catholic Church.
“If you don’t need something, take it where people need it,” says Engesser.
Myers says he will continue to give back to the community in many ways, and hopes others will do the same.
“If you have the opportunity to volunteer somewhere, do it anyway. And it will become a part of you, a part of you, and I will definitely miss it.
She plans to continue doing something called Jam the Van. That’s where schools help pack non-food items like toiletries into vans.Myers plans to distribute these items to other pantries in the area.
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