KOTA Cares- Church Response helps families get their food needs meet

RAPID CITY, S.D. (KOTA) - As grocery prices hit people’s wallets, many have turned to food pantries like Church Response to help fill the gap.

But with an increase in clients and a decline in donations, the non-profit is struggling to keep food on its shelves as well.

“We’ve had a real struggle getting enough food. During COVID we had a hard enough time even finding places to purchase food because our donations were down, said Lynda Mentele, director for Church Response.” And our donations have still not climbed to the point they were before COVID, and food just got more expensive and I’m afraid it’s going to get hard to find again.”

Unlike other food pantries, Church Response hands out food on a weekly versus monthly basis, because they have clients who take the bus or walk and can’t carry a month’s worth of food.

Additionally, the organization also helps people who are on fixed incomes.

“We tend to serve a little different segment of the population than some other food pantries. Most of the people that come here are elderly or disabled or living in motels,” added Mentele.

Church Response is located at 30 Main Street in downtown Rapid City and is open Monday- Friday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Donations can be mailed to the address listed above. In addition to monetary donations, Church Response also accepts non-perishable food items to their pantry.

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