PENROSE — A nonprofit organization in Penrose which feeds more than 2,000 people every month needs the community's help paying its utility bills.
‘My Neighbor's Cupboard’ has been helping families like the Gaunt family since 2018.
“We went through rough times and they helped us helped us tremendously,” said Ray Gaunt.
Gaunt was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2019, and then colon cancer not long after. She said she took trips to Colorado Springs several times a week, spending a lot of money on gas for her treatments.
“I told my husband that we need to do something. So we're going to go over to My Neighbor’s Cupboard, and we're going to apply for help with food and then we could use that money for gas, and it worked out really great.”
Gaunt is no longer needing help and is now a volunteer at My Neighbor’s Cupboard. It’s an organization serving mostly seniors and veterans in Fremont County. However they also have services in El Paso County, Custer County, and help with the food pantries at local schools.
“They can come in, sit down, have something warm to eat, if they want, have a snack, get some cup coffee,” said Amanda Suddoth, the founder and CEO of My Neighbor’s Cupboard.
Suddoth said what she does in helping others is a labor of love and has been made possible with help from the community. For the past five to six years, generous citizens helped pay the organization’s utility bills because they couldn't afford electricity. That help is not available anymore.
“Now we're back to taking care of her own utilities and things like that, and we're about average $1,200 a month to take care of all that,” said Suddoth.
Suddoth said moving forward, if they can't afford their electric, they will no longer be able to provide refrigerated meat, produce and dairy.
“It takes out any options for anything that is not processed food, and I think we're all in a good enough state of understanding, processed food is not the way to go. It's not healthy, it doesn't benefit the body,” said Suddoth.
Now they hope the community they've given so much to, can step up once again.
“I still have faith in community and I have faith in God,” said Suddoth.
“We need some financial help. That's what we're hoping for, and I keep praying every evening for that. We really do, and we'll help a lot more people,” said Gaunt.
The Scripps Howard Fund approved a $1,000 grant for My Neighbor's Cupboard just a few days ago.
The organization also gets help from Care and Share Food Bank of Southern Colorado, but they also rely on the community for donations.
For more information about My Neighbor's Cupboard or how to help, click here.
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