78 Cold Storage Units Help Partners Provide More Healthy Food

Betty, the food pantry director at BreakFree Augusta Ministries, shows off the organization’s new side-by-side refrigerator and freezer unit made possible by a Feeding America grant. The unit will help distribute more produce, milk, and meat.

When the food pantry director at BreakFree Augusta Ministries heard she could get the pantry a new refrigerator/freezer unit — for free — she didn’t hesitate.

“I jumped on it,” Betty says. “It doubled our freezer space.”

About 40 families a month come through the tidy pantry tucked into the back of the church on North Leg Court in Augusta. The pantry is open second Thursdays from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. to better serve people in need who work during the day. Volunteers deliver boxes to homebound seniors, too.

People are happy to receive any food assistance, Betty says, but they often ask about foods that keep better in the refrigerator or freezer: potatoes, milk, meat, and fresh fruit and vegetables.

BreakFree Augusta received a side-by-side dual unit through a Feeding America grant to Golden Harvest Food Bank.

The newly installed chest freezer at Bethel Community Apostolic Church.

It’s one of about 78 units that Golden Harvest has distributed to our Community Partners to build their capacity moving forward.

“We are grateful for what we’re able to do and it’s so good to be able to do more,” Betty says.

Each of the units the Food Bank was able to provide has its own story.

The food pantry directors at Bethel Community Apostolic Church were seconds from purchasing a used freezer when providence stepped in. Executive Director Amy Breitmann was in the same appliance store to purchase freezers for Community Partners.

“I’ll take those nine, and then give Lovern whatever one she wants,” Amy said.

Just a few hours later, the chest freezer was installed and immediately filled with frozen meat.

“Meat is so expensive for families, and it’s available through Golden Harvest,” said Lovern, one of Bethel food pantry’s directors. “But we were missing out because we didn’t have enough storage.”