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Grant Boothe, of Provo, packs a holiday box with food at Community Action Services and Food Bank in Provo on Wednesday, Nov. 18, 2020.

Isaac Hale, Daily Herald file photo

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Jakobie Jackobson and his father Rustin volunteer at the Community Action Services and Food Bank in Provo. The United Way database links volunteers with opportunities like those at the food bank.

Sammy Jo Hester, Daily Herald file photo

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Day of Caring volunteer helping out at Community Action Services ad Food Bank in Provo on Sept. 9, 2021.

Courtesy Nate Edwards

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Shelves at the new Springville food pantry, shown on April 9, 2021, are stocked and ready for their opening on April 11, 2021.

Courtesy Tom Hogan

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On Tuesday, the Orem City Council voted to give $25,000 in Community Development Block Grants to the Community Action Services Food Bank.

With the vote was the announcement that the food bank would be opening a satellite pantry in Orem.

“The grant is to help them purchase refrigeration, shelving and other things to help them set up,” said Councilwoman Debby Lauret.

The location for the pantry, according to Tom Hogan director of the central food bank in Provo, will be in a room at the Senior Friendship Center at 400 East and Center Street.

Hogan said a serendipitous meeting with Gena Bertlesen, director of the friendship center, opened the way for the pantry.

Bertlesen offered up a 12-foot-by-20-foot storage room that had just been cleaned out for the pantry. Hogan said they are hoping to open the satellite as soon as possible in 2022.

The pantry will be modeled after the one opened earlier this year in Springville. To date, they have served more than 200 people. Hogan said Orem will do more than that.

In fact, Orem’s pantry could grow out of its provided room faster than the other satellites. Besides Springville there are ones in Heber and Coalville as well as partner pantries at Utah Valley University, Franklin Elementary School and Dixon Middle School in Provo.

“We (the food bank) provide the food and they mentor the program,” Hogan said. “Having them in schools helps us break down barriers.”

Hogan noted that people have trust in their schools and having the pantries there also helps with counseling.

“Community Action Services Food Bank is the second largest in the state,” Hogan said. He noted the differences between a food bank and a pantry.

The food bank is a general gathering location for food, the pantries receive deliveries twice a week or so from the main food bank to keep their smaller locations filled.

The pantries provide dairy, meat, dry goods and canned goods. There are a few other non-food items as well, according to Hogan.

“I get to see such good Christianity in practice,” Hogan said. “This one in Orem will be great for the community center of town.”

Lauret noted that having a food pantry in Orem is “very appreciated.”

“A lot of people can’t make it to Provo,” Lauret said. “If you (Hogan) need more money come back.”

Lauret said she knows firsthand the needs of communities in Utah County. Every Wednesday for the past 10 years she has volunteered at the Tabitha’s Way food pantry in American Fork.

“I love what we do to help,” Lauret said. “Food insecurity is a big deal to people.”

Hogan said, after seeing just four months of growth in the Springville pantry that feeds a smaller population, the community food bank will be visiting Orem leaders soon.

“I anticipate having to go back to Orem and rethink a bigger location,” Hogan said. “Orem is excited for us to be coming.”