PARK CITY, Utah — A Park City food pantry is serving as a lifeline for hundreds of families across Summit and Wasatch counties, offering groceries, financial assistance, and a sense of dignity to those in need.
The Christian Center of Park City operates a food pantry set up like a grocery store, serving roughly 1,000 families each month. The center is open to members of all faiths and primarily serves workers in the local service industry. "If you look around while you're at a restaurant, while you're at a ski area, you'll notice people in the service industry. Those are mostly our clients," Eli Shackelford said.
Shackelford, the center's program director, said food insecurity affects a person's ability to function in every other area of life. "If you're hungry, if there's not food in your fridge, food on your table, it's hard to focus on anything else," Shackelford said.
Beyond groceries, the center helps clients with a range of basic needs. "That can be basic needs assistance, where we're helping make sure people can pay rent, can pay their gas bill, their electric bill," Shackelford said.
Volunteer Tina Quinn has been with the center for 5 years and now gives seven hours every week. She said the emotional weight of the work is what keeps her coming back.
"People have arrived that have tears in their eyes. They are telling me how grateful they are. They ran into a rough patch; they've never thought they would have to come to a food pantry," Quinn said.
Quinn said the pantry's no-barrier approach to helping people is one of its most powerful qualities. "People will come in, and they'll say, How do I check out? And we say, You know what? You don't check out. This is for you. You take what you need, and we're here to support you whenever you need it," Quinn said.
Quinn said the spirit of community support is visible throughout the organization. "It's just like everywhere you look, people are showing up for each other, and I love that," Quinn said.
This month, the Christian Center of Park City was named the FOX 13 Smith's Zero Hunger Hero. Smith's representative, Tina Murray, presented the center with a $1,000 surprise donation to help stock its shelves.
"Eli, I am so excited to be with you here today. It's part of our annual work to make sure we do our part to see that no family goes without food. What you do here is such important work," Murray said.
The center focuses on stocking its shelves with healthy food. In addition to the Zero Hunger Hero award, Smith's donates fruits, vegetables, and protein to support that mission. To get in touch with the pantry go to ccofpc.org.
If you know a Zero Hunger Hero, email Good Day Utah at gooddayutah@fox13now.com.
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