By Fiona Moord
It’s a Wednesday afternoon in June, and I run out of my house to the family car, trying to avoid the puddles littering the driveway. My windshield wipers are working overtime as I drive fifteen minutes south to Glen Lake Community Reformed Church, one of Empire Regional Food Pantries’ locations. As I pull in, Paula Martin, Groundwork’s Community Nutrition Specialist, smiles at me through her car window, and I feel some of my nerves settle.
Together, we make a couple of trips from her car, arms full of spices, bottles of oil, and cutlery for the food demonstration we will soon begin. The cooking demonstration is part of Groundwork’s partnership with the Empire Regional Food Pantry through the Building Resilient Communities program. As cuts to SNAP education programming create gaps in nutrition education, this event ensures that community members continue to have access to practical food and cooking resources.
I turn to Paula, who is dutifully holding her colorful umbrella over us, and smile at her as I feel the water begin to soak through my tennis shoes. We soon run into Wave, a fellow summer intern, sheltering beneath the awning. Together, the three of us enter the church, grateful for the warm reprieve from the gloomy storm outside.
Paula whisks us to the church kitchen, and we begin preparing for the demonstration. We walk through an array of tables covered with bread, frozen ground beef, strawberries, and canned beans, looking for ingredients for the food demonstration. A slew of volunteers rush around us as they set up the pop-up style food pantry. Paula and Wave find an abundance of fresh asparagus from a local farm and decide to make it the star of the dish. Peppers, mushrooms, onions, and garlic are paired with the fresh asparagus to make a beautiful and easy summer stir-fry.
Back in the kitchen, the peppers are washed and chopped, a table is covered with a tablecloth, and outreach materials including recipes and nutrition information are laid out. Soon, delicious smells of garlic and herbs fill the room, and I feel my stomach rumble, reminding me that I haven’t eaten in a couple of hours. A couple of volunteers meander into the kitchen, and a tall man with kind eyes comments on the mouthwatering smell. I soon find out that the group is made up of local community members who attend different churches in the area. The tall man laughs as he recalls being recruited to volunteer within his first week attending church, and how he hasn’t stopped since. Kaye Evans, a woman with a warm smile, is among them, and Paula introduces her to us as the Pantry Manager.
I learn how Paula has worked with Kaye to support the Empire Regional Food Pantry over the past year. Through Groundwork’s Building Resilient Communities program (BRC), which works to address the needs of communities in Michigan and encourages the consumption of healthy, local food, Empire Regional Food Pantry received a stipend to cover the cost of two new freezers for a large community donation of venison. Additionally, Groundwork provided staff support, outreach materials, and food education resources to enhance their work in food access initiatives within the local community. As Paula finishes briefing me, Kaye walks over and points out the freezer, filled to the brim with venison. Soon, I see community members line up outside the doors. An older man in a Michigan State hoodie says that people like to arrive early to enjoy the best selection of food. The doors remain closed until just before 4:00 p.m., when residents enter and fill out the required paperwork. Our table is met with curious eyes, and a few people wander over. I offer samples to all of them and share how we prepared the stir-fry and what ingredients were used. I gesture over to the outreach materials and recipes available at the end of the table, and most people walk away with a packet.
As the old wooden clock hanging on the wall across from me approaches 4:30, Kaye calls everyone together. She introduces Paula, Wave, and me, and encourages people to visit our table and try a sample. Kaye thanks the volunteers, and with that, the pantry is officially open. There’s a flurry of activity, and people wander through the tables, gathering ingredients in reusable bags, carts, and boxes. The mission of improving nutritious food access in the local community is underway.
A smiley young boy, around the age of ten, ambles away from his mother and approaches our table. After a skeptical glance at the cup of vegetables before him, he assures me that he’s excited to try them. I smile at him and ask what he thinks. Following a second of consideration, he exuberantly throws his hands in the air and exclaims,
“I just want to shove the whole thing in my mouth!”
I hold back a laugh as I say, “I’m glad you like it!”
Over the next hour, I talk to many community members. Most of them approach the table out of curiosity for what we are offering, but many stay to talk or share stories. I find myself relaxing and easing into the moment, sharing in conversation with my neighbors at a local church kitchen.
As we clean up, I reflect on the afternoon. The small moment of warmth and reprieve inside the kitchen, away from the chaos of the storm outside. I start to consider my connection to food and its importance in my life. In many of my earliest memories, food is a focal point. Whether I’m cooking with my mom in the kitchen, a chair pushed against the counter so I can reach the mixing bowl, or at a family dinner where laughter mixes with the clinking of silverware against plates, food has been at the center of it all. I think about how food can form community and connection and how I bore witness to that today. A group of people coming together in a time of need, which soon opens the door to something greater. I realize how grateful I am that I got to share in an evening of conversation and connection with my local neighbors and look forward to more experiences like it. 
Fiona Moord, Groundwork 2026 Summer Intern
