ST. JOSEPH — The Missouri National Guard’s Partners in Care initiative and Second Harvest Community Food Bank based here have announced a new partnership in an effort to assist Citizen-Soldiers and Airmen with another layer of support.
The state chaplain’s office uses Partners in Care to coordinate support for Guardsmen and their families by teaming up with local faith-based entities. It is a network of organizations that identifies resources churches currently offer and refers troops to those services.
Col. Gary Gilmore, Joint Force chaplain with the Missouri National Guard, recognizes that an untapped area of strength and support are local churches. Gilmore is a member of First Baptist Church, Mt. Vernon, and the former 16-year pastor there. He also was a 10-year trustee for Southwest Baptist University and is working on his doctorate in ministry at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.
Though not a church, Second Harvest is affiliated with many churches via their partner agencies in northwest Missouri and northeast Kansas, allowing them to take the lead in being a different kind of team
member.
“It’s amazing how many of our fellow soldiers seek help with food,” said Gilmore. “Just given the economy, given the impact of deployment on their life, given life today, I had no idea that food distribution points, even in armories, are used so much.”
The partnership with the Guard came after Second Harvest announced earlier this month a new military-friendly policy that allows all current or previous service members and their families to forego the qualification process normally required to receive food assistance.
“Our commitment to the Partners in Care program represents our organization’s continued support, recognition and honor of military families,” said Tamara Grubb, spokesperson for Second Harvest. “We are committed to building hunger-free communities and assisting military families in times of war, peace and after service.”
Second Harvest’s new policy states that in order to receive food assistance from Second Harvest or a partner agency, service members need only provide a current military ID or VA card. In lieu of these items, a DD-214 will be accepted. No other proof of information is needed.
“I’m not going to reproduce the food set-up; I’m going to refer to the existing food network,” said Gilmore. “We’ve all multiplied our capabilities by working together.”
Gilmore said he hopes pride will not be an issue for the troops and they will do what is necessary if they need help.
“We’ve got folks who have been doing well, we have others who have really struggled, and then we have others who had a good plan in place and a deployment knocked them off course,” said Gilmore. “They’ve been faithful to do their duty, but there’s a time where everybody needs a little help. You’ve got to take care of your family. We are not doing it in a way to embarrass anybody. There’s high and low in everybody’s life.”
Second Harvest provides food assistance to partner agencies in the following counties (Missouri): Andrew, Atchison, Buchanan, Caldwell, Clinton, Daviess, DeKalb, Gentry, Grundy, Harrison, Holt, Livingston, Mercer, Nodaway and Worth; (Kansas): Atchison, Brown, Doniphan and Leavenworth.
To learn more about Partners in Care contact the state chaplain’s office at 573-638-9613 or gary.gilmore@us.army.mil. To learn more about Second Harvest visit www.OurCommunityFoodBank.org or call 816-364-FOOD.