Bread of Life food pantry distributes Thanksgiving food to thousands

Standing in line outside the Bread of Life food pantry Saturday morning, Leitha Wills was cold but grateful.

“I’m disabled and my daughter works part-time, but we need the turkey. We need the food,” Wills said. “We so appreciate what they’re doing. I think it’s a wonderful thing.”

Bread of Life director Donna Pinaire said Saturday’s line, which snaked through the fog outside the food pantry near I-135 and South Hydraulic, looked about as long as last year’s. Families received turkeys, stuffing mix, potatoes, canned vegetables, bread, desserts and more.

The church was prepared to provide the makings of Thanksgiving dinner for more than 4,000 people, Pinaire said.

“Thanksgiving is a time of love. You want to be with family … and you just want to have a traditional meal. And we feel that for them,” she said.

“Turkeys are expensive. Food is expensive. Most of these people work, but they just can’t make enough to buy the food that they need.”

A recent study by the Kansas Food Bank and Feeding America showed that one in seven people in the Food Bank’s service area turn to food pantries and meal service programs to feed themselves and their families. More than 22,000 people are served each week by agencies supported through the Kansas Food Bank, including the Bread of Life ministry.

Joseph Smith, 57, and his wife, Jennifer, were among the first people in line outside the Bread of Life pantry, arriving late Friday evening. Many huddled beneath blankets and umbrellas, trying to stay warm and dry.

“It’s a blessing,” Jennifer Smith said. “If you can’t afford stuff, you still want to keep the Thanksgiving traditions. You want to have a meal with your family. It doesn’t have to be a whole lot.”

Some of the people in Saturday’s line said they visit the pantry most Tuesdays to get food for their families. Others, like the Smiths, come just once a year for the makings of Thanksgiving dinner.

“I work as much as I can,” said Joseph Smith, who installs storm sewers and other pipelines on construction sites. When his company doesn’t get contracts or the weather is bad, he doesn’t work. And when he doesn’t work, he doesn’t get paid. Sometimes he has gone weeks or even months without a paycheck, he said.

After paying for rent, utilities, insurance and the payment on a car he and his wife share, “there’s not a lot of money left over for groceries,” Smith said. He makes the most of simple ingredients, he added, and quickly recited the recipe for a creamy alfredo sauce he puts on chicken or pasta: milk, cream, chicken bouillon granules, salt, pepper and Italian seasoning.

“People ask me where I buy that sauce, and I tell them I make it,” he said, smiling. “I’m a pretty good cook.”

When the pantry doors opened at 9 a.m. Saturday, volunteers greeted people with smiles and directed them through the lines. High school student volunteers plopped frozen turkeys into shopping carts and escorted visitors to pallets outdoors, where they picked up potatoes, apples, pies and other holiday staples.

Wills and her daughter, Mindi, and friends, Sheri Thompson and J.J. Pitcox, sang joyfully as they slowly made their way toward the doors:

This little light of mine,

I’m gonna let it shine,

This little light of mine,

I’m gonna let it shine,

Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine …

Linda Wesley said she was in line for food to cook for others she knows who are in need.

“If you look around, there are just a lot of needs. Folks are running short on money and trying to make the dollars stretch,” she said. “If you can’t get somebody something for the holidays, it’s always nice to have a good meal.”

Pinaire, the pantry director, said she was glad Bread of Life and its partners were able to provide holiday meals for Wichitans for 24 years.

“God just puts it all together for us … Every year we just get so excited because we are able to do this.”

This story was originally published November 22, 2014 at 2:53 PM with the headline "Bread of Life food pantry distributes Thanksgiving food to thousands."