r A Payson Eagle Scout has provided funds toward a much-needed storage shed for Agape Food Pantry and Thrift Store. His Eagle Scout project was a pancake breakfast fundraiser held on June 3 that raised $500. A group of anonymous donors gave an additional $200.
“I had sorta given up on finishing my Eagle project,” Eagle Scout Zachary Rash said. “Then I talked to Maria (Zambrano) and found out what the food pantry does, and I really felt like my project could help lots of people. It got me motivated again.”
The shed was ordered the week after the pancake breakfast. It was to be completed by July.
The Agape Community Center is a nonprofit agency that serves people in the Payson-Salem-Santaquin communities. The thrift store at 765 E. 100 North in Payson receives many donations of used goods that are sold at low prices.
Money raised through efforts such as Rash’s goes toward paying their expenses, providing utility support for single mothers and providing gas vouchers to families in need.
Zambrano, the center’s director, said the pantry provides food, in cooperation with the Utah Food Bank, as needed to more than 1,000 family members per month. The food pantry also supports a mobile food pantry to an orphanage in Mexico.
“Zack has been a wonderful young man to work with,” Zambrano said. “For years now, Agape Food Pantry has been an answer to prayers that has already helped many thousands of needy people through the support of good people who live in this community. We have so many good neighbors who support us.”
Agape is always in need of more donations and invites local area businesses to donate surplus goods, cash, land, buildings and other properties that can be used to build a new Agape Center near the Payson Mountain View Hospital, Zambrano said. Agape is bursting at the seams of its current location. Based on current need, a new center could help many more families by providing educational programs that train and empower those in need.
A new center can only happen with the generous donations of community members and businesses. This future center will be designed to provide subsidized day care, family support classes, facilities for family life education classes and, ultimately, a larger donations center for increased capacity to raise funds and provide more educational and education-based, life-changing training for those in greatest need in the community.
The food pantry is open 12:30 to 4 p.m. Mondays and Saturdays, and 4 to 7:30 p.m. Tuesdays. The thrift store is open 10:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday.
To make a donation, contact Maria Zambrano at 801-885-5523 or zmaria61@gmail.com. Agape Community Center is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit agency and is on the Web at agapeutah.com.
