Groton Food Providers prepping for expansion 

In January 2019, Jessamine (Jess) Stone became the coordinator of Groton Food Providers (GFP), located in The Joyce Crouch Benevolence Building (TJCBB) at 701 S. Main St. Her husband, Mike Stone, and their six children had all been volunteering at GFP for several months prior – learning the ropes from GFP’s longtime coordinator, Donna Bernhardt, and other volunteers, before Jess officially took the reins. 

Throughout 2019, Jess began implementing her vision for GFP: a commitment to extend the food giveaways beyond just handing out food by dispelling any negative feelings anyone might have about coming as a customer by welcoming all and helping them feel connected.  

Now, four years later, not only has that vision taken hold and expanded, but so has the number of families and individuals who are being served through GFP – so much so that the current location is no longer adequate to meet the needs of the community. 

 When Jess took over, roughly 200 families were being served. Last year, 572 families were served, which was up from 519 in 2021.

Pastor Sam Neno of the Groton Assembly of God Church (GAOG), which owns TJCBB and has been the entity of oversight of GFP for many years, offered a bit of a history lesson on its origin. 

“The Reverend Robert Richardson told me recently that the Groton Food Pantry originally began as the result of a cooperative effort of three churches: St. Anthony’s, the Groton Community Church and Groton Assembly of God, which each had its own food pantry,” Neno said. “The leaders of the three churches discussed the matter and decided to combine efforts to create one pantry.”  

Richardson, who was the pastor of GAOG at the time, welcomed his brother, Pete, who was also a pastor elsewhere, and a team from Pete’s church, to build TJCBB more than 24 years ago. 

“The pantry has had many coordinators over the years and many volunteers, all of whom have served the community with joy and selflessness,” Neno said. “Today, the volunteers represent many churches and wide-ranging backgrounds. They work very hard and have a good attitude in what is sometimes stressful as delivery trucks arrive and they anticipate large giveaways.” 

While Jess had perhaps a dozen volunteers in 2019, in addition to her own family, there are currently 34 volunteers, who are all needed to make GFP function. 

They are Stacy Alexander, Donna Berich, Karen Borst, Cameron Brehm, Elijah Brehm, Michael Brehm, Dawn Brown, Babs Carr, Dana Cochran, Rob Cochran, Kathie Collier, David Crull, Kasey Dunn, Beth Durbin, Kathy Gilbert, Peggy Hicks, Audrey Inman, Melissa Keelhar, Loretta Lilly, Shannon Luzum, Lisa Matijas, Rick Neville, Jason Noble, Renee Parks, Lana Romano, Arianna Rose, Rosie Sinclaire, Mary Ann Smith, Cassandra Stone, Lila Stone, Michael Stone, Michaela Stone, Olivia Stone and Jean Wannall. 

 It’s not hard to imagine that space would be an issue if you have seen the current building with 35 workers, all the food, shelving, freezers, coolers, and almost 600 families being served over the course of a year.

 Throughout 24 years, the partnership between GAOG and GFP has been very beneficial, with the church providing the building and maintaining it, vans used to pick up food and make deliveries, many other forms of assistance and the community stepping up to fill the roles needed to make the whole thing function.

Still, with the growth of the pantry, a new home is needed for GFP.  

 “Jess and the pantry’s volunteers especially did a wonderful job during a difficult time during the pandemic,” Neno said. “The food pantry grew to enormous size and has become a new entity that requires new space. Our church board is working to help the food pantry transition so that it may continue to serve the community, but in a new form.” 

 For Jess’s part, she has formed a steering committee that is busily working to secure a different and larger space, and she would like all to know that they are open to potential spaces within the Groton community, preferably within the village to keep accessibility most feasible for patrons, if anyone happens to have such a space available. 

 “We pray that Groton Food Providers continues to serve the community and becomes what God intends it to be to meet the growing need,” Neno said. “And although Groton Assembly of God will no longer be the physical location of the food pantry, [the church] will continue to be supportive of its efforts to provide for the needs of the community.” 

 In the meantime, GFP will remain at its current location through June 2023 if another space is not secured before then. Jess wants to assure patrons that they can expect the same great service and availability of food that they are accustomed to.  

 The Food Bank of the Southern Tier (FBST) is the main source of the food that is given away, but that food must be purchased with grant money from the government or other sources. This past year, GFP was fortunate to receive an additional cash grant from Upstate Shredding, an HPNAP Legislative Award and, most recently, the Emergency Cold Storage Grant through the FBST, which provided a brand-new reach-in freezer valued at $4,000. 

 “This was a godsend,” Jess said. “We had six freezers, but two of them recently died, leaving us with two that are commercial grade and two that are the typical upright freezers people have in their homes, and they are all more than 10 years old and breaking down.” 

 Jess explained that she can obtain fresh produce and certain types of meat with the grant money allotted, but everything above and beyond that must be either purchased or donated. Thus, GFP relies on donations – of both food and money.  

 To that end, the next exciting project coming up for the community to help GFP is its Share the Love food drive, which will involve individuals or groups preparing boxes of specific, needed items such as cereal, pasta sauce, peanut butter and jelly, canned meat and more – specifics will be available in this column in the “In brief” section of the February 8 edition.  

 The fun part of Share the Love is that Jess is asking that the boxes be decorated by contributors who would like to participate in a contest for “best boxes” in various categories, which will also be revealed next week. The boxes will not be given out to families – the contents will be used to stock the shelves – but the campaign will be a way for clubs, work groups, families or anyone to contribute while having a bit of fun. 

 Food donations of any kind are always welcome, and monetary donations may be sent to Groton Assembly of God, 701 S. Main St., Groton, NY 13073 – marked for GFP in the memo line.  

 “We’re also hoping to start gathering regular donors to GFP, perhaps with monthly pledges or other ways,” Jess said, “and if anyone knows of grant opportunities or other funding streams, we always want to know about them.” 

 GFP is open to anyone in Groton or the surrounding areas who needs food. Its hours for food pickup are 12:30 to 3:30 p.m. every Monday, or by appointment via grotonfoodproviders18@gmail.com or (607) 427-4273.  These methods of communication with GFP may be used for any questions, although email is highly preferred. GFP also has a Facebook page:  https://www.facebook.com/groups/151767729508767/

 Groton on the Inside appears every week in Tompkins Weekly. Submit story ideas to editorial@vizellamedia.com or text or call Linda at (607) 227-4922.  

 In brief: 

Youth basketball  

 The Groton Recreation K-2 Youth Basketball Program for students in kindergarten through second grade will begin Saturday, March 11, and run every Saturday through April 15 in the Groton Elementary School gym. Program fee is $20 per student.  

Sessions are designed to introduce the game of basketball to young players. Each session will be based on basic skills and fun drills/games. 

 Kindergarten sessions will be held from 9 to 9:45 a.m., first grade from 9:45 to 10:30 a.m., and second grade from 10:30 to 11:15 a.m. Register at  https://tshq.bluesombrero.com/grotonrecreation. 

Outstanding CTE students 

The following Groton students were recognized as outstanding students of the month for December at the Tompkins-Seneca-Tioga BOCES Career and Technical Education Center: Kori Hilker, Career Exploration Program, and Hunter Webster, Outdoor Recreation in the Turning Point Program.  

 Outstanding students are chosen based on qualities such as character, leadership, citizenship, work ethic and attendance. They must also be compassionate, honest, trustworthy, responsible and a positive role model.  

Congratulations to these exceptional career and tech students in our school.

Ridge Runners spaghetti supper 

 The Groton Ridge Runners Snowmobile Club will hold a spaghetti supper from 4:30 to 8 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 11 at its clubhouse, 748 Salt Rd., one mile north of Rt. 90. Meals include spaghetti and meatballs and a side salad. Cost is $12 for adults, $11 for senior citizens and $10 for children aged 5-12. Children 4 and under may eat for free. This is a perfect way to enjoy a unique dining experience in a rustic country setting. Takeout dinners are also available.