CHEYENNE – Tuesday morning, Wyoming first lady Jennie Gordon was at Meals on Wheels Cheyenne to dedicate one of four small pantries built and donated by Fortis Construction in an effort to provide resources to those experiencing food insecurity.
Both Meals on Wheels and Fortis hope the pantries increase access to food and essential services for families in Cheyenne.
Gordon thanked both Meals on Wheels and Fortis for their collaboration, which made this project a reality.
“Thank you for coming into a community doing work, but also giving back to the community, because that impact is going to be felt for generations,” Gordon said.
In addition to the pantry at Meals on Wheels, 2015 South Greeley Highway, the three other pantries will be placed at accessible locations across Cheyenne: Needs Inc. at 900 Central Ave., Wyoming Coalition for the Homeless at 907 Campbell Ave. and Cheyenne Regional Medical Center at 214 E. 23rd St.
Anyone can take food if they need it, and members of the community can also donate food to the pantries to support those in need.
Each pantry holds an assortment of shelf-stable goods, such as canned food, ramen, baby food, macaroni and even entire meal kits. The pantries also have multiple can openers should someone not have one.
Stephanie Freeman, the executive director of Meals on Wheels, explained the impetus behind the project. She said Tracie McMaster of Fortis approached her more than a year ago with the idea.
Freeman also noted that Fortis wanted to give back to the Cheyenne community and hoped to make an impact with this idea.
The multiple food drives Meals on Wheels holds throughout the year will provide the food necessary to restock the pantries when supplies run low.
Freeman said that the pantry located at Meals on Wheels had already been restocked each day since it was installed.
Hannah Netzley of Fortis explained the actual building process and the thought that went into the project.
“When we started planning how to stock the pantries, one thing that was really important to us was making sure we weren’t just filling the shelves with random items,” she said.
Netzley also touched on the work done to ensure the food provided to people in need was useful and how meaningful the project became to her.
“For me personally, this became one of my favorite parts of the project because I kept thinking about the person on the other side of that pantry door and what would actually be helpful to them,” she said.
Freeman also hopes that the pantries will help those who may feel a stigma regarding asking for help get what they need due to the locations being outside, meaning anyone can get what they need at any time.
McMaster also highlighted why Fortis chose this project as its way to give back to the community. This past year’s issue was food insecurity, which led her to reach out to the Wyoming Hunger Initiative to ask what they could do to give back.
McMaster said that giving back is a tenet of Fortis, and a different issue is chosen by the company each year.
As the event wrapped up, Gordon thanked both Meals on Wheels and Fortis for their contributions in the fight against food insecurity in Cheyenne and said she hopes other communities follow their lead.
Get any of our free email newsletters — news headlines, sports, arts & entertainment, state legislature, CFD news, and more.
