Food Pantry

The Barnes County Food Pantry consists of donated food, and food and supplies purchased with individual and group cash donations.  Much of the funding for the Food Pantry comes from area churches. Food is purchased from the Great Plains Food Bank, as well as local grocery stores. We also receive commodities from Community Action’s Temporary Emergency Food Assistance Program.

All food donations and commodities are stocked in the storeroom at the Barnes County Senior Citizens Center in Valley City. Space is provided at no charge to the program. Cash donations are maintained in a separate fund and are used only for the purchase of food for the Pantry. The Center staff and volunteers donate their time to order supplies, stock shelves and pack individual and family boxes.

The Food Pantry is available all year, Monday through Friday from 8:00 AM to 4:30 PM, to provide nutritional sustenance and personal items to eligible individuals and families in need. Individuals and/or families are limited to receiving boxes once every three months, unless it is a crisis situation.

People may be referred to the Food Pantry by Social Services, outreach workers, schools, doctors, hospitals, the City/County Health Department, Abused Persons Outreach Center, and area churches. Recipients may be referred to Social Services for additional assistance.

The Food Pantry also distributes holiday boxes for Christmas to eligible Social Services’ clients and low-income elderly persons. Boxes for elderly clients are usually delivered by local volunteers. Boxes for younger clients are distributed on a specified day in December.

Client names and information are kept in strict confidence and are not used for any other purpose. A confidential client file is maintained to prevent abuse of the program. Records are kept, as required by our funding sources.