David Harmadi knows that the fight against hunger is a complex puzzle with many pieces.

And as director of the Panther Valley Food Pantry, he’s proud to provide at least one piece of that puzzle.

Since 2018, Harmadi and his wife, Theresa Ross, have served needy residents of the Panther Valley through the pantry, which is located at Grace Community Church in Lansford.

“Our goal is to help them to get from here to being self sufficient, which is what we want for all of them someday,” Ross said.

The response to the program — by both clients and volunteers — has surpassed their expectations. In their first year of operation, 5,000 people received food from the pantry — a total of over 70,000 pounds of food.

On the fourth Saturday of each month the pantry opens to the public. People show up hours in advance. By the time the pantry opens, there is a long line.

Before moving to Lansford the couple got experience volunteering at food pantries in Minnesota, Illinois and Colorado. But organizing the volunteers and resources for a new food pantry was no easy task.

They found a partner in Second Harvest, the national nonprofit which distributes food that is donated by large chains and food corporations.

With contributions from corporate partners and nonprofits like Carbon County Community Foundation, they were able to acquire freezers. Boyer’s donated carts and bags to make it easier for clients to use the pantry. Harmadi estimates that the total cost of running the pantry so far has been about $8,000.

Harmadi said those partners are important to making the pantry run, but the volunteers who have helped are essential.

Each pantry requires about 150-175 volunteer hours. That includes unloading trucks, stocking shelves, and the actual distribution itself.

Volunteer Victor Canales helps manage the pantry when Theresa and David are unavailable. He said he loves the ability to interact with people in his community while lending a helping hand.

“I’m a people person, I love every minute of it,” he said.

Many of the volunteers meet the income guidelines to use the pantry themselves. That doesn’t deter them from wanting to give back to their community.

The couple are constantly looking to improve what they offer their clients. Some of the most popular items aren’t food at all — but personal hygiene items.

In addition to frozen meats, they’ll stock canned foods for clients who may not have a working kitchen.

Ross pays particular attention to the mothers. The pantry will also stock items like diapers and formula. She will try to meet with them while they are going through the pantry to see what they need for their baby.

“You can get a feel for what it is besides food that they need,” Ross said.

She also likes the fact that Second Harvest provides all natural, organic baby food.

Harmadi and Ross look at the pantry as an opportunity to reach a large group of people in need, and they hope to eventually connect them to services beyond just a food pantry.

They partnered with God’s Chuckwagon, which travels from Shamokin and serves 200 hot meals to pantry clients.

They have hosted doctors and even distributed naloxone, but they would like to do more for children.

Their next goal is to begin helping their clients complete job applications and learn interview skills, something they didn’t envision getting involved with when the pantry started. They are seeking grants to buy computers and even provide transportation to job seekers from the Panther Valley.

“We’ve got the food part down now. What can we do so they’re not totally dependent on these things to avoid hunger issues? Well, the job thing would be next,” Harmadi said.

They envision someday connecting people from the Panther Valley with the large employers in the region who are looking for employees, regardless of whether they may have had legal or addiction issues in the past.

“My best day will be when we close this pantry because they don’t need it anymore. Until we get from here to there, we fill in a gap and hopefully they can put together the pieces so people don’t have hunger issues,” Harmadi said.