In March of 2017, Chief Ranger Matt Vandzura and Mike Scott met to discuss food insecurity in Grand Canyon Village.
The Beginning
Summer Lunch Program
2017-2018
The Chief explained the need for a Pantry: at that time 50% of GUSD students were eligible for subsidized lunch. That summer the Grand Canyon Community Church sponsored a free lunch program at the Recreation Center on Mondays and Thursdays during June and July. During the last two weeks of July we partnered with the St. Mary’s Food Bank Alliance to serve Kids Cafe lunches Monday through Friday.
In the summer of 2018 the group that would become the Food Pantry served free lunches five days a week at Kaibab Learning Center, the Rec Center, and the Tusayan Sport Complex. Each of these groups supported the effort by training their staffs to meet the Arizona Department of Economic Security and Federal Department of Agriculture requirements, along with storing the food in the freezers and refrigerators that St. Mary’s provided. The program won the Regional Summer Sunshine Award for reaching rural, tribal and/or under-served communities.
Lapse in Appropriations
Emergency Food Pantry
December 2018
In December 2018 we formed the Grand Canyon Emergency Food Pantry working with St. Mary’s to provide food during the lapse in appropriations by the Federal Government. Once again St. Mary’s was the backbone of the operation providing several tons of food. The National Park Service donated warehouse space and detailed workers to deliver the stored food to the Recreation Center, our temporary Pantry. Xanterra loaned freezers and refrigerators along with donating over 1,000 pounds of chicken. During the seven weeks of the lapse we provided food to residents and workers. The Emergency Pantry distributed over 29,000 pounds of food, much of it donated by other food banks and churches in Coconino and Mohave Counties.
We offered three communal ‘soup & talk’ meals that the Park Service used as a vehicle to communicate with Park employees. Our Public Heath officer, Don Hoeschele, checked us for food safety. The School provided soup for one meal, IMAX for the second, and the Squire Inn for the third. The Recreation Center provided the space and local volunteers served the meals.
The need caused by this lapse in appropriations convinced us that we should become a permanent Food Pantry.
Operations Today
The Permanent Food Pantry
Early 2019
In January 2019 the Emergency Pantry formed an Arizona not-for-profit corporation and filed for 501(c)(3) tax status, which was granted later in the year. We filed to be an Arizona Qualifying Charitable Organization, which was granted in December. A Board of Directors, with its membership draw from various stakeholders in the community, held its first meeting in February 2019. Also in February Chief Vandzura offered the old jail and three storage sheds for our use. We had also looked closely at the Fred Harvey gas station on Center Rd, but the build-out costs of close to $500,000 to bring it up to historical preservation standards seemed excessive for our needs.
The Board consists of representatives of major stakeholders in the Community: Xanterra Corporation, Delaware North, Paul Revere Transportation, Northern Arizona Healthcare, Coconino County, the GC Conservancy, public representatives, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, and ex-officio non voting NPS representation. Membership has fluctuated widely but continues to represent a cross section of the community.
We received our Special Use Permit from the Park Service in June 2019 which allowed us to operate. The Pantry is a totally volunteer organization; we have no paid employees. All the donations we receive either supplement our food requirements or are used to complete the conversion of our space into the Pantry. We are a ‘partner’ Agency of St. Mary’s Food Bank Alliance so our food supply is secure. St. Mary’s also offers us training and conducts a compliance audit annually to ensure we are operating in a ‘food safe’ manner. We currently ‘rescue’ food from Delaware North’s General Store and the Texaco Mini Mart in Tusayan. We receive donations from individuals and corporate food drives. Because of the generosity of NPS, which provides buildings and utilities, we have been able to operate without the need for major fund drives.