Miyia Garren and Katelyn Muir both volunteers divide lunch meat into smaller portions at the Cache Food Pantry Wed. March 18, 2020.
LOGAN – The Cache Community Food Pantry is getting some needed attention despite the COVID-19 causing the loss of two huge food drives. The pantry received a donation from Malouf of close to $30,000 and Farmers Feeding Utah decided to make the local charity their second Miracle Project in hopes of raising a projected $150,000 through grassroots and corporate donations to help those struggling in the northern reaches of the state.
Unemployment rates in Cache County have more than doubled compared to last year, and demands on its food pantry have increased by 30 percent. Unemployment in Box Elder County has more than tripled, and demand from food panties is increasing.
Farmers Feeding Utah will use donations to help these northern Utah pantries.
Farmers Feeding Utah volunteers will also distribute a variety of foods in other discreet locations throughout the region, notifying the recently unemployed about where they can pick up farm-fresh food. All donations will be used to purchase, process, and deliver food to families in need, giving both struggling farmers and Utah families a hand up.
Malouf, a bedding and furniture company located in Nibley, raised $28,515 for the Cache Community Food Pantry during a recent charity sale to support local COVID-19 relief efforts. They held a week-long sale and opened up to community members to Malouf’s VIP site. That gave visitors access to hundreds of premium bedding and furniture products. Malouf donated 10 percent of every purchase to the Cache Community Food Pantry.
“We continually look for ways to use our business as a force for good,” said Malouf co-founder Kacie Malouf. “When COVID-19 hit earlier this year, we saw an immediate impact on our community, so we evaluated the largest areas of need and how we could help the most people. That’s when we reached out to our local food pantry.”
Shortly after making the first delivery of more than 100,000 pounds of food to Utah’s Navajo friends, Farmers Feeding Utah launched its second
miracle project: Miracle Project Northern Utah.
The Farmers Feeding Utah campaign hopes to raise $150,000 through grassroots and corporate donations to help those struggling in the northern reaches of the state.
“We’ve seen miracles in how needy families in Utah got the food they needed, and we’ve been able to support some of our local farmers,” said Ron Gibson, President of the Utah Farm Bureau Federation. “Another part of this miracle is to see the way things have come together. Utahns have been incredibly generous and stepped up to the challenge on our first project, and I’m confident we’ll rise to meet this new one as well.”
Matt Whitaker, director of the Cache Community Food Pantry, said he was grateful for Malouf’s effort.
“We lost both of our major food drives this year due to COVID-19, and at the same time, we’re seeing a large increase in people applying for help. We’re overwhelmed by the support from Malouf and Farmers Feeding Utah. We’ll use these funds to make sure our local families have food on their tables.”