Thanks to volunteers and donations, Divide’s Little Chapel Food Pantry is a smooth operation | Pikes Peak Courier

DIVIDE • An assembly line of efficiency, the distribution center at Little Chapel Food Pantry operates like a machine with heart.

The operation is slick. In the warehouse, volunteers separate food and pack boxes, load them on the conveyor belt and do it again and again. Last year, the pantry, under the direction of Ken and Judy Hesselberg, gave away 600,000 pounds of food.

“One of the many wonderful things is that we help so many people, up to 200 every week,” said Raylene Geissler, taking a break from the line.

From inside the warehouse to the distribution point outside, the conveyor belt is a connection from volunteer to recipient.

“I’m disabled and my son is my caretaker,” said Lorri Crawford, who has driven to the site behind the Little Chapel of the Hills church in Divide. “Without this food from the pantry we would not have made it.”

Crawford’s boxes contain dairy and bread products, canned goods, desserts and fresh produce.

“It’s hard to buy healthy food,” Crawford said. “I’m a diabetic and have COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease).”

After registering online, Crawford received her food that day from Blake Grimm. The boxes, two to a family, come with a prayer, if desired. “We try to provide some uplift for their body and spirit,” said Grimm, who is a member of the church prayer group. “If they are in need of food, they have other needs, too.”

The pantry’s food donations come from Walmart, City Market and Natural Grocers. “This is some of the best food I’ve seen, fresh meats as good as any,” Grimm said. “We don’t ask questions about need.”

Max and Theresa Wharton are also part of the prayer group. “Most people respond positively to our offer of prayer,” Theresa Wharton said.

Back at the warehouse, the volunteers rely on instinct, mathematical skills and ingenuity while tracking the wild cards — the number of patrons and kinds of donations, said Jim Stockbridge, who drives in from Guffey to volunteer.

Another wild card is the number of volunteers on any given day. If too many show up to work, it can be a downer. “They won’t come back if they don’t feel needed,” Stockbridge said.

On a recent brisk fall day, the volunteers included missionaries from Thailand and students at Charis Bible College, Alex and Elizabeth Dyckerhoff.

“It’s fun, constant movement,” said a volunteer who goes by Li’l Jo. “It’s constant hustle; quite a system but it’s efficient and it works.”

The distribution center includes the Pet Food Pantry for Teller County, a nonprofit organization founded by Penny Sharkey.

Since Sharkey retired, the pet pantry continues at Little Chapel with volunteers such as Suzanne Miller, Kim Elliott, Gerry Holcroft, Barbara Berger and Pat Hyslop. “Having the pantry with food for dogs and cats helps the mental health of the pet owners,” Elliott said.

Miller added, “Our plan is to keep pets out of the shelter.”

The pantry partners with Focus on the Forest for the twice-monthly operation.

With things hopping at both pantries, the Hesselbergs plan to expand the warehouse and pave the parking lot for the distribution, which happens from 3:30 to 6:30 p.m. on the second and fourth Mondays of the month — except for December when it’s the first and third Monday.

The Hesselbergs opened Little Chapel Food Pantry, a nonprofit organization, in 2001. For information, visit littlechapelfoodpantry.org or call 719-322-7610.