By Toni Gibbons Across the street from the Snowflake Fire Department on Fourth Street is a building that gives hope and food to those who are hungry and need help. Simply called Shepherd’s Kitchen, the building includes a food bank and a thrift store. Director Brenda Webb said Shepherd’s Kitchen was started in 1997 in the small house behind Celebrations on Main Street in Snowflake. “In early 1998, we moved to where we are located now on Fourth Street,” said Webb. Chuck McMaster, Brenda’s dad, who is 87 and the founder of Shepherd’s Kitchen, still comes down five days a week to volunteer his time. Every week Shepherd’s Kitchen distributes approximately 220 food boxes to area residents with more than 50 percent going to families with children in the household. “We have some singles, some couples and elderly people we help as well,” noted Webb. The holiday months of November and December are when the needs become greater. Webb said it is not uncommon to double the boxes during those months, with as many as 500 going out each week. Local residents who need help and live within the designated area of the food bank, can apply for a food box during when the food bank is open from noon until 3:20 p.m., Tuesday through Friday every week. The designated boundaries are the Navajo County line to the east, Heber-Overgaard to the west. White Mountain Lakes to the south and Woodruff to the north. While signing up is simple, it does require a valid form of identification, a bill or statement that shows a local address and the willingness to state their income. “We go by the federal income guidelines for poverty,” said Webb. Once a person or family is enrolled, they can come monthly to the food bank. For a number of years, Shepherd’s Kitchen has partnered with St. Mary’s Food Bank in the valley to get government-provided food as well as pallets of fresh produce. A lot of food donations come from the local area and recently the Kitchen received a $5,000 grant from Wells Fargo. “We also apply for grants from Arizona Public Service and the booster club at Coronado Generating Station through the Salt River Project,” said Webb. “We get a small grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, as well as private donations from people.” With the holidays approaching, Shepherd’s Kitchen is always open for donations of non-perishable food items, as well as food that would require refrigeration and freezing. “We have a lot of room in our walk-in freezers and refrigerators to store food for distribution,” said Webb. Additionally, Shepherd’s Kitchen can always use cash donations to help pay the bills and buy the foods that are not donated. Folks are welcome to drop off gently used items for the thrift store. “If it’s useable and in good condition, we can take it, but we have no way to repair broken items,” noted Webb. All the proceeds from the thrift store, which is run by volunteers, help support the food bank. Volunteer help is very welcome as well. “We have a lot of great volunteers who just want to help but we can always use extra hands,” said Webb. “And that is the purpose behind this, just helping people.” Shepherd’s Kitchen is located at 344 W Fourth Street South. The thrift store is open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday. Checks can be mailed to Shepherd’s Kitchen, P.O. Box 1364, Snowflake, Ariz., 85937. The food bank and thrift store will be closed on Thursday and Friday, Nov. 22 and 23, for Thanksgiving, as well as Tuesday, Dec. 25, for Christmas and Tuesday, Jan. 1, for New Years Day.
