BLACKFOOT, Idaho — A food pantry and foster care resource center in Blackfoot has secured a permanent home after Frontier Credit Union donated $800,000 toward the purchase of its building, prompting the facility to be renamed the Frontier Community Outreach Center, according to the Idaho State Journal.
The newspaper reported that the credit union’s contribution covered more than three-quarters of the building’s $1 million purchase price. Frontier Credit Union also provided a $200,000 interest-free loan to help complete the acquisition and donated a truckload of food to the pantry.
The building houses the Blackfoot Food Pantry and The Village, a foster care closet that provides clothing and other essentials for foster families.
‘Incredibly Generous’
“This community has been so incredibly generous, and the support that they give to the food pantry and The Village is just really pretty amazing,” Katie Harris, a member of the Community Dinner Table board of directors and a local business owner, told the Idaho State Journal.
The building had served as the home of the Blackfoot Food Pantry for about a decade under a rent-free arrangement with owner Bill Sponnenberg. When Sponnenberg decided to sell the property last year, the nonprofits launched a campaign to purchase the building rather than risk losing their longtime location, the newspaper reported.
18 Months of Fundraising
A fundraising effort announced about 18 months ago coincided with a major renovation of The Village’s portion of the building. The remodeling project cost about $450,000 and was funded largely through community donations and volunteer labor, according to the Idaho State Journal.
Community Dinner Table, the nonprofit that operates the Blackfoot Food Pantry, was founded nearly 20 years ago to address food insecurity in the region. The organization hosts weekly community dinners at a local Methodist church from October through March and distributes free food boxes every Wednesday. Harris told the newspaper the pantry relies entirely on donated food and supplies and does not receive government assistance.
According to the Idaho State Journal, the nonprofits initially agreed to pay $50,000 in rent during a one-year period that Sponnenberg provided to allow them time to raise the money needed to purchase the building.
