The Knoxville Panther Food Pantry helps those in need in the Knoxville community help fight hunger.

The pantry, which is part of the Knoxville Food Youth Initiative located at Knoxville High School, is open the first and third Saturday of each month and provides food to community members who have students in the Knoxville Community School District. At the food pantry, you can come in and specifically pick out what food you like, and what you need for yourself and family. There is a large variety of items from snacks, produce, dairy, meat, and even cleaning supplies. The pantry aims at allowing individuals to take any amount of food that they like and need. To qualify to receive food you need to have students in the school district from preschool through 12th grade.

The Panther Pantry receives most of their food from the Food Bank of Iowa in Ottumwa, but also receives donations from stores like Fareway and others in the community. Volunteers go to pick up the food donations from the food bank and return with anywhere from 1,000 to 4,000 pounds of food at a time. The pantry also requests grants to receive funds to purchase fresh items like eggs. The Knoxville Food Youth Initiative puts on the summer lunch program as well, and last summer served just shy of 90,000 meals. Panther Pantry Director Verlin Goodyk says that it’s satisfying to be able to impact the community in a positive way.. 

“It’s been a real pleasure working with the program. The school has been great to work with. When people come through, sometimes there’s long lines but people are just happy. They know what they’re getting at the end, and they’re getting a lot of good food to eat.”

The Panther Pantry is open from 9:30-11:00 am the first and third Saturday of the month. Hear more from Goodyk on today’s Food Drive Friday special news magazine.