SOS: Save Our Services

The Kamas food pantry, left, looking for help finding a new home. Photo: Michele Roepke

KAMAS, Utah. — The bedroom community of Kamas, located less than 15 minutes from Park City, has one food pantry. That food pantry is on the move. Community Action Services (CAS), the nonprofit that oversees the Kamas Food Pantry, has operated out of the building for almost 18 years, but at the end of this month, they will be vacating.

The food pantry that serves lifelong Summit County residents, seasonal resort employees and anyone in-between will have its last open day on April 30. They’re asking for ideas from Summit County residents and/or business owners regarding where they might be able to move.

Laura Hinton heads up the Summit and Wasatch Counties Food Pantries in Heber, Coalville and Kamas. She told TownLift, “We simply hope to continue to be able serve the people of this wonderful community who gives so selflessly back to us through food drives, direct food donations, fundraising and just writing checks to donate to our programs.”

A new brick and mortar building would be the staff’s preference, however, they understand that a mobile unit would also work. The latter would limit how much product they can store and thus offer. The dignity inherent in picking food clients want is lessened if there’s insufficient space, she said. Searching for a place or a space, they would even like a plot of ground on which they could park some sort of book-mobile-like vehicle. 

CAS, headquartered in Provo, provides not only food for families but also financial assistance for rent and utilities, all needs that have ticked steadily upwards for clients over the last unique year of COVID.

The Food Town grocery store in Kamas has long supported CAS by hosting and holding donations. Before, during and after this logistical evolution, anyone can walk into Food Town and make a dedicated donation at the Customer Service Desk to the Kamas CAS. Those monies allow employees and volunteers of CAS to purchase items of high need right there at the Food Town to be brought over to and distributed for free from the Kamas pantry.

Volunteerism keeps all food pantries going, and Kamas is no different. Volunteer Linda Miller told TownLift, “It doesn’t need to be big or fancy, it doesn’t even need to be storefront, we’d just like to find a place in Kamas or Oakley or even Peoa so we can stay in the community.” Miller knows of what she speaks after spending so much time in their current location which doesn’t have heat, air conditioning, running water or restroom facilities for volunteers or clients.

CAS is open to any and all ideas. Hinton will gladly field offers or creative thoughts and tips at her email address, lauralynn8503@gmail.com. The hourglass sands are falling fast as they hope for ideas that lead to solutions.