Part 1 – Mid-Summer, a slow dance of cars through the church parking lot.

It’s 5 p.m. on the 4th of July - The food pantry on Kane Creek Boulevard is open for business, with a big sign at the parking lot entrance. People can simply drive up, sign in, and gather the free bags of groceries, the jugs of grape juice, the frozen blueberries.

Tonight’s menu features deli turkey, catfish filets and a jam-packed cartload of stuff I’m told ranges from “diapers to dog food.” Here you find everything from sugar cookies to hair conditioner and raisins.

“We get all kinds of things,” says Phil Irby, the food pantry’s chief overseer; he makes sure everything is laid out in a timely way and also manages connections with the Utah Food Bank, which supplies the bulk – some 80 to 90 percent - of the church’s offerings. He’s also the one who sets the bags of food in front of the church ahead of time so that volunteers can set up easily.

As he points out the ins and outs of the pantry, he keeps a careful eye on the proceedings --

We hunker on a picnic table under a shade tree; from here we can watch the adagio of cars and trucks as they stream slowly through the queue. You register your name and how many people are in your family, and a small tribe of volunteers helps load food into your car. Some of them have been on board since the pantry began six years ago.

The crew puts out groceries for about 200 people in summer; in a few months, when it’s colder, the number of people served will likely rise to 400 or so. At that time the venue moves to a sunnier locale near the church entrance.

The Food Pantry idea had been germinating for a while, according to St. Francis’ Reverend Dave Sakrison, a long-time local who has served the town of Moab as both Mayor and City Councilmember. In 2019 the idea became a reality and the food focus became an ecumenical tradition.

Irby, who has headed up the pantry for a couple of years, tells me that in the beginning the pantry was inside; the food was stacked on shelves. “People came in – we handed them a shopping bag and starting helping them put stuff in the bags.”

Then the pandemic hit and the pantry moved outdoors, where it has been held ever since.

In addition to the Utah Food Bank, the two LDS churches in Moab support St. Francis by delivering truckloads of food several times a year when they hold their own food drives; local individuals contribute food as well.

Irby directs my gaze to a woman from nearby Thompson Springs, who picks up groceries for several families there, and to Matt, the local driver of a blue and white truck, who supplies food to several of his neighbors.

“We’re just people helping people,” he says. “People to people, neighbor to neighbor.” The pantry, Sakrison adds, “won’t turn anyone away who needs food.”

Recent cuts in Federal funding to regional farmers have eliminated some sources of fresh produce, although the Food Bank and local contributions have been helping to bridge the gap.

The church serves up a free soup lunch every Thursday from 11:30am to 1pm, and is the umbrella heading up all the operations that provide food to the community. A donation to St. Francis, a pot of soup, or food for distribution on Fridays is always welcome. Call Phil Irby at 214-707-1050 for more information on how to help out.

The Episcopal Church of St. Francis is located at 250 Kane Creek Boulevard. For more information on the church’s mission and offerings check out the website at https://moabepiscopalchurch.org. or call 435-259-5831.