SPENCER — Food pantry clients in Owen County will notice a difference Monday when they come to the South Central Community Action Program office on North Fletcher Avenue in Spencer to order food.

Instead of placing an order and waiting for it to be delivered by volunteers from the nearby Emergency Food Pantry, they'll simply step into the next room and pick it up themselves.

Why the change?

Because the all-volunteer Emergency Food Pantry closed its doors Friday after almost two decades of service.

Betty Stewart said the pantry folded because of increasing difficulty finding able-bodied volunteers to load food orders five days each week. She was chairwoman of the emergency pantry board.

"The young people, very understandably, are working," she said, "and there's been illness for some of our members."

But she's optimistic the Community Action Program can keep the program going.

"We've had a marvelous relationship with them over the years," she said, "and I'm sure clients will receive the same service."

Sally Fulk, coordinator of Community Action Program in Owen County, also expects a smooth transition Monday morning.

"Clients are already used to coming to us for food," she said. "We just haven't stored food in our building in the past."

To ease the transition, the emergency pantry donated all of its inventory to Community Action Program, including three freezers and much-needed shelving.

Two former emergency pantry volunteers have agreed to help at the new site, but more volunteers are needed before the pantry can be open five days a week.

"Our other services will continue unchanged," said Fulk, "but until we find more volunteers, the pantry will only be open Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 9 to 11 a.m. and 1:30 to 3:30 p.m."

Fulk wishes the pantry could be open five days a week so that clients who visit her office for other reasons could enjoy one-stop-shopping. Evening hours are also on her wish list.

"If we could get volunteers to serve two hours in the evening, we could help more of the working poor," she said.

Fulk named the new pantry the Kitchen Cupboard Food Pantry because it's in the kitchen of the former residence her agency now occupies. Her enthusiasm for the project has been noticed by higher-ups.

"Sally has worked hard on this," said Edna Gilliland, deputy director of the four-county South Central Community Action Program. "She wants it to be successful. We all want to provide the best possible service for clients in Owen County."

Meanwhile, Fulk is taking the new venture one day at a time.

"It's going to be a learn-as-you-go operation," she said. "We'll need to get a feel for it as we continue to operate."

To volunteer, make donations or obtain information about the new pantry, call 829-2279.

Reporter David Horn can be reached at 331-4307 or by e-mail at dhorn@heraldt.com.