The city of Buchanan may soon have its very own food bank dedicated to aiding local citizens

If local residents and Co-Chairmen Ann Westmoreland and Shirley Farmer can keep their current progress rolling, their goal of opening Buchanan Food Bank may soon come to fruition.

For several years, Westmoreland has helped her church, First United Methodist of Buchanan, pack bookbags with food for area children to take home with them over the weekend. However, she says she wants to do more.

“People are struggling these days,” Westmoreland said. “This is something that’s been weighing on my heart a long time. These children are hungry, and so are the parents. Some people have no money for food, and they have no money for transportation to go to another town that has a food bank.”

Right now, the duo is trying to get past legal requirements before taking food donations and putting volunteers to work.

To take things to the next level, Westmoreland and Farmer need to acquire a location and do any necessary repairs. Once the building passes inspection, the organization will be able to obtain a business license and then open a bank account to accept donations.

In the meantime, Westmoreland and Farmer are rallying support from local businesses, government and churches to get the project off the ground.

“We want all churches, schools and businesses to get involved,” Westmoreland said. “If everyone helped out, everyone would be less poor.”

The organization hopes to help people at least every other week, though things may start out slow once distribution begins.

“We want to do more than one box of food a month. People can’t live on one box of food for four weeks, so we want to try to [distribute] every other week.”

Westmoreland says the group is currently looking for monetary donations, volunteers and even a little legal aid to help get the group up and running with all the correct paperwork.

“Down the road, we will [also] need a refrigerator and freezer to accommodate meat and dairy products,” Westmoreland said in a letter sent out to local businesses.

Westmoreland says she has received support from First United Methodist of Buchanan Pastor Randy Rooks; however, she is hoping for the support of all Christians in the area.

“As Christians, it is our duty to tirelessly carry on the work of Christ, but [neither] one person nor one church can do the task alone.”

To get involved with Westmoreland’s and Farmer’s efforts to get Buchanan Food Bank up and running, call 770-646-9245 or 770-646-3425.