Staff photo / Bob Coupland Chuck Mackey, executive director of the Bolindale Food Pantry, left, and volunteer Julie Marinkovich, pack bags of food for distribution at the pantry inside Bolindale Christian Church. The pantry is in the process of an expansion that Mackey said will enable clients to go through the food distribution line more quickly and expand storage space.

HOWLAND — The Bolindale Food Pantry is in the process of expanding and becoming a MyPlate food pantry.

Chuck Mackey, executive director of the food pantry, said last year he requested $62,000 in American Rescue Plan funds from the Trumbull County commissioners for remodeling and reorganizing the food pantry inside Bolindale Christian Church, which is a separate entity. Commissioners tentatively approved the request in September.

“What we want to do is make it easier for people to get the food they need quicker. When the rooms are remodeled, they will be able to walk from room to room. The other side of the pantry will be used for storage,” Mackey said.

Ruth Griffis, who serves as the Policy, Systems, and Environmental coordinator with the OSU Extension for Mahoning, Portage, Summit and Trumbull counties, said the pantry transformation will benefit clients because they will be able to find foods in each of the five food groups from MyPlate by the new shelf labeling.

She said other benefits include nutrition education through various methods, which will help improve clients’ nutrition knowledge, cooking skills and food security status, and promoting dignity, respect and self-efficacy for clients. The expansion also will reduce food waste because food will be better organized.

Griffis said there will be posters in the pantry focusing on MyPlate, which educates people on items they can get to fulfill the five food groups. MyPlate is recommended by the FDA and replaces the former food pyramid recommendations.

SEEKING GRANTS

Mackey also has applied for a grant to get metal shelving for the pantry as well as a mini grant for reusable shopping bags, shopping baskets, containers for food items and also shopping carts to get items to people’s cars.

“We want to make it like a grocery store where people can easily go from room to room,” Griffis said.

Mackey said with the $62,000, he will be able to get remodeling started in 2025 with the ARP funds needing to be used by December 2025.

The project includes painting all the walls, replacing the ceiling and lighting fixtures, refurbishing the windows, sealing the floor and putting in new tile. Mackey said the pantry floor is from the 1950s and needs to be updated.

There also will be additional refrigerators.

“There have been times when I have to turn down milk because I have no space for it,” Mackey said.

Griffis said she became aware of the food pantry through the OSU Extension’s SNAP-ED nutrition educator, Garvin McCorkle, who conducts nutrition education classes at the pantry.

SNAP-ED is an evidence-based program that helps people make their SNAP dollars stretch, teaches them how to shop for and cook healthy meals, and lead physically active lifestyles.

Griffis said food will have labels to indicate what part of the five food groups — dairy, protein, vegetables, fruits and grains — that item falls under.

“We make sure they get fruits and vegetables. Beans and nuts have some of the highest proteins anyone can get,” Mackey said.

“We want people to get foods for a healthy diet,” Griffis added.

Mackey said Howland Planning Director Kim Mascarella helped the pantry seek the ARP funds. He said the pantry helps between 55 and 62 people per month. Mackey and Griffis said the mobile food market, which travels around Trumbull County, will make stops at the pantry twice a month. The pantry is open 2 to 5 p.m. the second and fourth Wednesdays of each month.