One Call is All It Takes

Throughout life, circumstances change. One thing that doesn’t change is the need for nutritious foods and for many, the Community Food Bank of Grand Junction is a welcome source of consistency.

In 2013, Carrie Gillett found herself moving across the country from Southern California to Grand Junction, Colorado. “My daughter moved here and had a little girl, so my husband and I had to follow the grandchild,” Gillett says with a laugh. Gillett’s daughter, Annalise, was a mail carrier in the area and happened to deliver to the Community Food Bank of Grand Junction. 

“She called me because she knew my husband and I were kind of struggling a bit,” Gillett explains. Not long after that fateful phone call in 2019, Gillett made her first trip to the Community Food Bank, “and that’s when you would come and they would premake the box and you would pick it up.” The routine of picking up a box of nutritious food stayed routine despite the loss of her husband and the COVID-19 pandemic.

And then, even that routine changed, but Gillett says it was for the better. “Now, you come in and it’s like grocery shopping,” she says with a bright smile. “You pick the items that you want, you get to speak with different people, and the staff is always friendly and helpful.”

When asked about hesitations she may have had in utilizing a food bank, with the change to a grocery shopping method, Gillett emphatically states she had none. “Nobody gives you the look of ‘what are you doing here? You shouldn’t be here.’ All the time I have come here, I have always felt warm and welcomed.”

Gillett’s experience at the Community Food Bank has led her to become an unofficial ambassador for the organization. “I have referred Community Food Bank to several people,” she states. “I just tell them, you can go there, you don’t feel ashamed, everybody’s friendly, and you can come pick what you want.” The outcome? “Everybody that I have referred has come back and told me, ‘you’re right.’ They love it here.”

Gillett has also become an integral part of the Community Advisory Board. The Community Advisory Board provides ideas, insights, and feedback to the Community Food Bank from the perspective of those who utilize it’s services. The Board Members also volunteer their time at a variety of CFB events, such as the Mobile Markets or the Annual Open House, which Gillette says is one of her favorite memories with the organization. 

For Gillette, the Community Food Bank has become more than a source of nutrition support, it’s become a community, just like the name. “You come, you sit here, and they talk to you just like you’re their neighbor,” she says with a smile motioning to the pantry. “I love it.”