Partner Highlight: Community Dinner Table
Community members and volunteers with the Community Dinner Table in Blackfoot recently celebrated the retirement of long-time pantry director, Ronda Cheatum. Ronda started with Community Dinner Table 14 years ago as the kitchen leader for the dinner the Seventh-Day Adventist Church sponsored. She was invited to be part of the guiding group which then became the board of directors when the Community Dinner Table became a 501(c)3. The agency started bringing fresh foods, provided by The Idaho Foodbank, to the Tuesday dinners to make available to their neighbors who were struggling.
The Idaho Foodbank approached Ronda and other board members about running the monthly Mobile Pantry in Blackfoot and from there realized something was needed on a weekly basis to serve the community members of Bingham County. Around the same time, the Bingham County Senior Center also realized the need and the two agencies worked together to do a weekly pantry at the Senior Center. In 2014 they were offered a building which has worked well for community dinners, as well as food pantry distributions.
Ronda has been the person pushing to do these things and the organizing force, but it has been the whole Community Dinner Table team as well as volunteers and donations that have enabled them to serve the community. Ronda says, “I have been so blessed through this work (all volunteer) to meet and get to know so many in our community and to have a chance to see the collaboration of so many organizations in order to care for those struggling in Bingham County.”
We appreciate the work Ronda has done for Blackfoot and Bingham County!