Food meant for theme parks feeds local folks

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Church distributes 40,000-plus lbs. to area families in need.

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  • Bags of potatoes and more were available to Columbia County families in need by way of the Worship Room. (TOM NOTON/Special to the Reporter)
    Bags of potatoes and more were available to Columbia County families in need by way of the Worship Room. (TOM NOTON/Special to the Reporter)
  • Bags containing bread and other food items await distribution at a local giveaway on Tuesday. The Worship Room, a new church founded in September, says it handed out roughly 40,000 pounds of food that day alone. (TOM NOTON/Special to the Reporter)
    Bags containing bread and other food items await distribution at a local giveaway on Tuesday. The Worship Room, a new church founded in September, says it handed out roughly 40,000 pounds of food that day alone. (TOM NOTON/Special to the Reporter)
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The food no longer wanted or needed by Florida’s theme parks is finding its way into the pantries of struggling Columbia County families. 

On Tuesday alone, one team of local volunteers distributed about 40,000 pounds of food, including asparagus, lettuce, hamburger meat, mangos, cauliflower, celery and potatoes. The giveaway was organized by the Worship Room, a newly formed church off County Road 240, but was held in the parking lot at Christian Fellowship Church in the Columbia City area. 

“We had people from all different age ranges around the county,” said Worship Room Pastor Matt Ganskop. “We just keep hearing about people who have lost their jobs, we feel the pain that people have.”

The Worship Room began a food distribution program a couple of weeks ago, Ganskop said, as many community members were finding themselves newly unemployed. 

“It blew up a lot bigger than we expected,” he said. “We’ve distributed almost 200,000 pounds in less than a month.”

Ganskop’s family owns a roofing business, giving him access to trucks, trailers and forklifts for the program. 

“So we just got a team of friends together,” Ganskop said. 

One of those friends was Skipper Hair, who runs the Suwannee River Campfire Ministries, an organization partnered with the Bread of the Mighty food bank to distribute much-needed supplies throughout the region via several churches. 

Hair helped the Worship Room establish a supply line through Bread of the Mighty. 

“This isn’t your normal food ministry,” Hair said. “We’re not seeing the typical individual that may be in a situation of poverty — we’re seeing people that are coming through in nice vehicles, who obviously used to have good jobs prior to all this taking place.”

Normally, food banks don’t have the most desirable items to distribute, Hair said. That’s not the case at the moment. Theme parks and businesses that cater to tourists no longer have a use for their inventory and are donating their food to institutions such as Bread of the Mighty, Hair said.

“What we’re dealing with now is top-of-the-line food that was supposed to be going to the tourism industry and restaurants,” Hair said. “It was like God opened a door for us.”

The drop in demand has rippled throughout the supply chain, he said. 

“There’s so much excess food right now that farmers are plowing their crops without even harvesting them, because there’s nowhere to even send it,” Hair said. “It’s unprecedented, to be honest with you.”

The bounty won’t last forever, but it’s been a boon for the Worship Room’s program and others like it. 

Since they started their distribution initiative, Ganskop said he’s heard numerous stories of how the pandemic has knocked hard-working people off their feet. 

One person who came to Tuesday’s event saw three family members lose their jobs, and was the only one left still employed, Ganskop said. 

Azie Handy, who helps organize and coordinate the Worship Room’s food giveaways, said it was the highest volume day in the program’s short history. 

“It was crazy, we had to double-stack the line,” she said. “We had to move because the traffic was getting so congested.”

Many people were loading up on supplies not just for their own households, but also for elderly loved ones scared to go outside, she said. 

“We’re just grateful to be able to help in any way that we can,” she said. “We’re still blown away.”

The Worship Room advertises the locations of upcoming events on its Facebook page. The church aims to hold events all over the community to serve those who can’t easily drive. 

Mark Cady, pastor of Christian Fellowship Church, said it was an honor to host Tuesday’s giveaway. 

“We’re just simply acting as the vehicle to be able to distribute food in the community,” Cady said.