By: Charles Romans
Carter County Times
Pam Wilburn of The Daily Bread Food Pantry on Rt 60 in Grayson said she was truly amazed that the pantry had collected one million pounds of food for the hungry in Carter County since January 1, 2025.
“There was a lot of canned food and dry goods,” Wilburn said. “But there was also a lot of produce including potatoes and apples.”
Wilburn said a lot of what Daily Bread receives is supplied by God’s Food Bank. And once per month she receives a semi-trailer load from the Christian Appalachian Project.
The process of distributing that much food to those in need begins with Daily Bread having a food giveaway on the first Saturday of the month. They also administer a grocery store (for Carter County residents 65 and older) that is open once per week where those in need can come in and shop for their food needs. Wilburn said both the food giveaways and the grocery store shopping days are all completely free to those in need.
Wilburn said that unfortunately there are a lot of hungry people in Carter County, and Daily Bread does their best to help ease that problem.
“But there are also a lot of people who just need a little help to get through the end of the month,” she said. “We see that a lot because people are just stretched so thin. They have food; but at the end of the month that can get very thin for them.”
Wilburn said that, especially in the case of grandparents raising their grandchildren, money becomes much more insufficient. Government food programs such as KCHIP might be incredibly low in those cases, and the grandparents who are living on fixed incomes (that count as income against food benefits) and often paying for their own healthcare and medicines can barely scrape by on their own and still must somehow make sure their grandchildren have food to eat and other necessities.
“We have grandmothers and grandfathers that come in and say without this (food pantry) they couldn’t make it through the end of the month,” Wilburn said.
Food insecurity is far too prevalent, especially in Eastern Kentucky, Wilburn said. And part of the reason for that is that food has become increasingly expensive. Recently she said she went to pick up groceries just for the Sunday meal and spent $90 at the grocery store.
“By the time you buy 30 dollars in meat, a couple of vegetables, and something for dessert it really adds up quick,” she noted.
Wilburn said that The Daily Bread Food Pantry is currently serving 750 families per month in Carter County.
“We don’t take any money at all,” she said. “If they show up and they’re hungry, we give them food. We will give it as long as we have it. And God has stretched that out to where we have never had to let anyone leave without food.”
“It has been a blessing to us. We have great volunteers, and there are 11 churches of different denominations represented,“ she said.
Wilburn’s church, Grayson Freewill Baptist, is the host but they share any extra with the other churches and their congregations so that more need can be answered.
The Daily Bread Food Pantry is a 501c3 organization, so all donations are tax deductible. Donations can be in the form of a check made out to the Daily Bread Food Pantry. Contributions can be mailed to Grayson Freewill Baptist, and they are currently in the process of setting up a business PayPal. Daily Bread also banks at Citizen’s National Bank in Grayson, and that bank is set up to accept donations for them as well.
“Or you can just reach out to me on Facebook,” Wilburn said. “And I’ll be glad to help them help.”
Contact the writer at charles@cartercountytimes.com
