HANCOCK – Representatives from local food pantries, church charities and nonprofit organizations met at the Hancock Salvation Army Tuesday afternoon to hear a presentation by Feeding America West Michigan, share the concerns facing their organizations, and to work on resolving some of the issues.

“In every area of service that we do, whether that’s transportation, housing, food — we’ve been trying to break down siloes and bring the community together for progress,” Salvation Army Director Pete Mackin said.

The effort to bring the individual organizations together has been successful, Makin said. “This is the first of the groups,” he said, “it’s been very successful this last year with collaborating. It’s just started coordinating now as a group. The goal is that we have healthy, good pantries in each one of our communities.”

Makin said by coordinating and collaborating, individual food pantries can become more impactful. The goal is to make the pantries more affective and efficient. “When people donate food or finances,” Mackin said, “they know that we are as efficient and effective as Yoopers can be with those resources.”

When Carol Plichta and her husband, Mark, became volunteers at the Salvation Army a few years ago, they decided their goal would be to start an extensive food pantry on the property. After some renovation and modifications, the pantry was established in what had been a music room. Carol said the goal became to coordinate local food pantries throughout the area in order for them to collaborate. The intention is to build a network of food pantries.

“Whatever their problems are over there,” she said, “we’re going to get it fixed. Feeding America is going to make us food bank status again, and we’re all going to be able to work from them.”

Feeding America West Michigan is a food bank that addresses hunger in West Michigan and the Upper Peninsula. It works with more than 800 agencies to distribute food and resources to individuals and families in need, focusing on equitable access to nutritious food for all, nourishment and hunger relief to their neighbors by amplifying community strength through collaboration and advocacy. They work with a vast network of partners, including food pantries, soup kitchens, and meal programs, to get food to people in need.

“So, we’re like the hub,” Mackin said about the Hancock Salvation Amry, “trying to support all of our neighbor and churches and pantries in our communities.”