Grand Canyon Times

Grand Canyon Food Pantry (GCFP), which serves Grand Canyon Village, is calling for volunteers to help with setup, distribution, and takedown.

As a nonprofit organization, volunteers are vital for the GCFP's continuing success in reaching out to the various community members that depend on its services. The village is over 70 miles away from crucial services such as supermarkets and department stores. Even if residents are willing to make the trek, many cannot, as one in four Grand Canyon Village residents do not own a car, according to Grand Canyon News. In 2017, 50% of students in the school district were eligible for subsidized lunch.

The Census Bureau estimated that 12.4% of the village's populace lives in poverty, but others place the number over 27%, according to the food pantry. GCFP helps 40 to 50 people per week.

"We’re always looking for volunteers,” Mike Scott, the organizer of the Grand Canyon Food Pantry, said. "Over the period of COVID, volunteers have ebbed and flowed based on work schedules changing; now, with the Omicron [variant], somebody feels good one day, they sign up and Saturday morning they feel terrible and we have to scramble to find somebody to replace them," Scott said, according to Grand Canyon News.

Scott said the pantry has the most vacancies on Wednesdays from noon to 2 p.m. He said that people who can volunteer for only that time, even once a month, would be a big help.

St. Mary's Food Bank Alliance supplies the pantry with 90% of its frozen meat, according to Grand Canyon News. The pantry also uses food from Canyon Village Market, Texaco Mini Mart, and Flagstaff Family Food. Scott said the pantry tries to have a wide variety of food, including some that will add a bit of fun to its patrons' lives, such as junk food.

If you would like to volunteer at the Grand Canyon Food Pantry, you can visit this website.