Lake Station interim Mayor Dewey Lemley said the municipality’s Lake Station Food Pantry is closed, and the operation has been transferred to the First Baptist Church of Lake Station, 1309 Central Ave.
The decision comes months after a U.S. District Court jury in September found former Mayor Keith Soderquist and his wife, Deborah, guilty of improperly using funds from Keith Soderquist’s campaign fund and the city’s food pantry account to gamble.
Lake Station First Baptist Church
Lake Station wasn’t required to close the food pantry, but Lemley said city officials believed it was the best avenue for Lake Station to take.
Lemley said the city’s ongoing financial struggles also factored into the decision.
First Baptist Church Pastor David Nykamp said the municipality on Wednesday provided the church with equipment and supplies Lake Station had been using for the city’s pantry.
Those items included two freezers and “an unbelievable amount of canned goods” that have now filled the church’s pantry shelves.
“It was amazing,” Nykamp said of the donations from the city.
Lemley said the remaining funding from the city’s food pantry account also will be donated to the First Baptist Church.
Nykamp said the church has been operating its own food pantry since the end of October. He said the church’s pantry has served about 150 families during that time.
Nykamp expects the number of families the pantry will serve will grow as residents become more aware of it.
“There’s a lot of people in the community who need it,” he said.
Midwest Auto Care
For every Oil Change Service Midwest Auto Care perfdorms, Midwest Auto Care donates a dollar to one of our local community food pantries.
Fourth Tuesday Every Month
The pantry is available the second and fourth Tuesday of every month. It will be open from 10 a.m to 1 p.m. Dec. 22, but the hours operation will change beginning in January, Nykamp said.
Starting next month, the pantry will be open from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. the second Tuesday of each month and from 3 to 6 p.m. the fourth Tuesday of every month.
Nykamp said the church has established a separate account for funding it receives for the pantry.
For more information on the food pantry, contact the First Baptist Church.
