FRANKLIN COUNTY, Mo. — The director of the Community Outreach of Gerald, Missouri, Michelle Glosser, gathered 25 volunteers on Friday for their monthly food drive.
Cars lined the roads leading to 17 East 4th Street for free food in the middle of one of Missouri's food deserts.
The Community Outreach fed over 200 families despite donations dwindling over the past four years.
The small town of Gerald has a population of around 1,300 and has been home to this nonprofit for 20 years, helping surrounding towns like Leslie, Beaufort, and Rosebud along the way.
"The need is ever increasing," Glosser said. "Pre-COVID we served 25-30 families a week, and since COVID the need is ever increased to where now we're at about 75 families a week but at the same time, the donations have went down."
"Even our main contributor, which is Operation Food Search... has drastically changed," Glosser said.
If the Community Outreach closes its doors, the next closest resource for hunger relief is in Owensville — but they do not feed residents outside of their city and many older adults cannot travel far without transportation, Glosser said.
Financial hardship has caused less monetary donations, Glosser admitted. Practical solutions have kept them afloat like only getting chicken and cutting out dairy products from their pantry.
"We can't afford to get 50 gallons of milk every week," Glosser said.
When Friday's drive ended there were still bags of apples and potatoes left over. Glosser left them for those who may drive by and be in need.
The community
Before she began devoting 30 to 40 hours a week volunteering Glosser was undergoing cancer treatments for three years. She was in the number of people in need during Christmastime.
"After that I realized, my community really stepped up to help me and my family. My way of giving back was to start helping there," she said.
Community Outreach doesn't stop with the food drives that deposit three to four meals into homes but they also help children within Gerald get breakfast and lunch on weekends. During Christmastime they also ensure older adults and children have gifts.
After nearly a decade of volunteering, Glosser now knows many of the families she serves by name including 66-year-old Leslie resident David Greenwalt Sr. He has been on the receiving end of the nonprofit but used to be the Community Outreach director.
"I was really sick and I lost a lot of weight. Then I have to go to a nursing home for rehab and they helped me a lot before that with whatever we might need. I got to where I couldn't get out so Michelle would bring it to me," Greenwalt said.
Greenwalt still volunteers and enjoys helping the community.
One volunteer from Gerald, who wished to remain anonymous, said "There is no judgment there. Everybody is treated the same. Any kind of help you need they go above and beyond for so it doesn't just meet your needs for food but it goes as far as to reach out to the community as family."
She said that the nonprofit paid a bill for her once. She also shared that they recently hosted a baby shower for someone in their community.
First State Community Bank manager Linda Weber said "I've been at the bank for 35 years. I am a lifelong resident of Gerald. It's a very small little town but I love it. That's why I've stayed. The food pantry means so much to this community. It's so beneficial and crucial and needed because times are getting tougher and people just need a helping hand sometimes. They need a little help and Michelle and her volunteers, they are amazing."
Although Weber has never had to use the nonprofit personally she has been able to see the excitement from the community who come into the bank to pull names for the donations gathered during Christmastime.
Former resident Kenzie Dunning said her name was pulled during their Christmastime fundraiser and her children received nice toys. She also shared that she received hundreds of dollars worth of formula for her twins from Community Outreach.
"We never know when we may need help and I would like to know that if I do fall on those times that there is some place that I can go and they will be able to help me. You just never know," Weber said. "These little small towns, they need help. Well, big cities really need help. There's more people I get that, but the little communities need it too."
How to help
A $10 donation helps a family of two eat for nearly a week and $25 helps a family of four eat for a week, according to Glosser.
If you would like to donate to the Community Outreach in Gerald you can donate here or through Operation Food Search.
