Oakesdale Food Pantry evicted

OAKESDALE – The Oakesdale Food Pantry is in search of a new home after receiving an eviction notice Friday, July 15.

The community pantry was given one month to move out after almost seven years at 103 Steptoe Ave.

The pantry, which is supported by The Council on Aging & Human Services, has distributed food and supplies to Oakesdale residents for the past 22 years.

According to pantry Director Dee Stadden, the pantry provides necessities to more than 40 area residents on a monthly basis.

The building's owner, Raymond Oneal of Lapwai, Idaho, reportedly has other plans for the property.

"We're selling all of our property in town," said Raymond's son Tim Oneal, also of Lapwai, who oversees the premises for his parents.

Stadden says the pantry's three-person volunteer staff has had difficulty finding a new location.

"It has been a non-stop information gathering process and a lot of pleading for help," Stadden said, "Most of the buildings in this town are condemned. Some of them you'll go through the floor, so space is at a premium."

After reaching out to multiple community organizations for assistance, the pantry was given permission to use a shed owned by the Oakesdale Presbyterian Church to store its boxed food in for the winter, but Stadden said that is only a temporary fix.

In the meantime, the pantry has purchased two pop-up tents, which will be used to distribute foodstuffs outdoors on the fourth Tuesday of every month.

Pantry patron Diana Bridge, 75, says that the pantry's recent misfortune does not bode well for the community's most vulnerable.

"It's going to impact a lot of people apart from myself," Bridge said. "If it's gone there's going to be a lot of people, especially old people, hurting."

Stadden says the number of needy persons the pantry serves is increasing by the month, many of which are families with young children or the elderly.

If Oakesdale's pantry were to permanently close, patrons would need to travel to neighboring towns such as Tekoa or Malden, which Stadden says may be too costly of a burden.

"With the rising price of gas coupled with unemployment I am afraid it will come down to families going hungry," she said.

Author Bio

Reid Thompson is an intern reporter at the Whitman County Gazette. Reid is enrolled at Syracuse University, where he studies journalism and international relations.

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