Each Monday morning, Raymond Stone and Vicki Bush meet at 7 a.m. at a retailer in Owensville. Their mission is to load up day-old fruits, vegetables, breads and sweets to bring to Gerald Community Outreach. Once the food is sorted and displayed, they open the doors at 9 a.m. for community distribution. There are no income restrictions on who may come to pick up the food. Residents are encouraged to come and take for themselves, but also for family and neighbors who may be unable to get there themselves.

Since most of the food is perishable, very little of it can be added to the outreach’s food pantry.

Each week, a different assortment is available, but the offering almost always includes potatoes, apples, and day-old bread and desserts.

At 10 a.m., the doors close and whatever is left is picked up by a local rural church for their members.

This is only one of the programs offered by Community Outreach. Volunteers also offer access to the food pantry each Friday and Saturday from 9 to 11 a.m. They provide commodity boxes for those approved for the program. They manage the drive through food distribution program once a month. They also man Finders Keepers Resale shop, from which the sales go to support the outreach.

Glosser directs the outreach and says keeping the shelves of the food pantry full is always a struggle. She says the items most needed are canned meat, peanut butter, macaroni and cheese, pasta and sauces, soups, pancake mix and syrup.

As food prices continue to rise, Glosser says the demand on the food pantry is growing. Most clients are senior citizens or working families with young children.

For more information on any of the outreach’s programs call 573-764-4357(HELP) and leave a message with a call back number.