GILMAN — Treasured by God Ministries is still in the former Gilman Community Church, but has different management.

Joel and Kim Gummert became the directors in January. Kim died unexpectedly in April, but her family wanted to continue her mission of helping. Joel and his children – Kevin Gummert and Lauren Miller – are taking care of the day-to-day operations, events and plans for the future.

According to Joel, taking over the nonprofit was Kim’s idea. A retired employee of the Iowa Veterans Home, she spent the first year taking care of her husband who was diagnosed with oral cancer.

“She’d been coming over here when the original people had it, and they were wanting to get out of it,” Joel said. “She came home and said, ‘I’ve been talking to the people at the food pantry and they want to get out. I would kind of like to take it over. What do you think?’ I said let’s try it. Kim spent day and night in the former church, refinishing everything and putting her touch on it. She intended to use the basement for Gummert family gatherings, and they had one on Easter Sunday.

“Three days later, she passed away,” he said. “I wasn’t going to let it go.”

Kevin agreed, stating that they were not going to give up on it. Three days after Kim’s death but before her funeral, he said they served 125 people. Knowing it was going to be a long-term deal, Kevin went to Kansas City and sold his house to relocate back to Gilman.

“We figured let’s see what it looks like if we keep doing it,” Kevin said.

Joel said the first time they opened the food pantry in March, only 11 people showed up, and he asked Kim why they were taking on this task for so few.

“She got right up in my face and said ‘That is 11 people who needed us and we were here,'” he said. “We are at the point now where we have identified 170 people coming through for food every other Saturday.”

In November, the Treasure Chest Food Pantry served 494 people. Being the only food pantry open on weekends, Joel said people appreciate that, telling him they don’t know what they would do if the Gilman pantry was not available.

“We’re here to help, that’s how we are,” he said. “That’s how I was raised, how she was raised and how we raised these guys. If there’s a need, we’re going to help you somehow. It’s turned into more than what we anticipated it would. The community has been very supportive of us. We’ve got very good help.”

Miller said the entire experience has been incredibly rewarding. She was previously a patron and now has the opportunity to give back.

“I feel blessed to be able to do it,” she said. “When you’ve been on the other held and you’ve received the help, it feels good when you can give back and be that organization for people who need it.”

Treasure Chest

With growing food insecurity, they have placed more focus on the food pantry. The Treasure Chest is open the second and fourth Saturday of every month from 10 a.m. to noon. Kevin said the nonprofit has received so many donations for the thrift store they are considering the long-term sustainability of the pantry with increased cost for food and expenses.

“Any donations we get – we’ve got furniture, clothing, home goods, furnishings – and anything we sell goes back to the food pantry,” he said. “We are 100 percent volunteer staffed and we don’t take home a dime.”

In January, the thrift store will be open five days a week, rather than just two. The Treasure Chest will still operate every other Saturday. Kevin said the need and the pantry are growing.

“On a normal Saturday for us, the last three or four, it’s been over 200 people every weekend,” he said. “Our total for the year is just under 3,000 people fed since January.”

Kevin believes word of mouth is the one of the causes for the influx of patrons. They like to make people feel comfortable in a judgement-free environment. Joel added the Treasure Chest also has a variety of ethnic foods as some patrons are Hispanic or Asian.

One variety that has proven popular has been meat. At the end of December, the Treasure Chest had seven or eight different meat options people could choose from.

“We offer a wide variety of groceries,” Kevin said. “We tell everybody we run a mini grocery store. You come in, pick what you want, whereas before, the same things were always available. If the [Central Iowa Food Bank] gets something new in, Lauren orders it and we see how it goes. We may order it again.”

One message the family wants to get to the public is the thrift store is open, contains quality items and all money is used to fight food insecurity.

“We negotiate on some of our furniture items,” Kevin said. “We set a price we think is fair, but we understand that if people are in need and don’t have the money for it, we’re willing to negotiate on those items. Because we have no problem getting more stuff in the door to turn around and sell.”

In fact, with the amount of donations, they are looking into providing for birthdays. If parents come to the pantry and tell of an upcoming birthday, the family is considering letting them choose items, such as toys, for the corresponding age of the child.

“One of the things when Mom started was she always had cake mixes and frostings, because no matter what, everyone deserves a birthday cake. No matter how much money you’ve got,” Kevin said. “We always restock that every week. We’ve always got cake and frosting available and we want to extend that out to toys, as well.”

He also assured the nonprofit is operating ethically. The thrift store items are donated by citizens and people can attend events at Treasured by God – such as community meals – without worrying about a cover charge. For the events, Kevin said people can give a free will donation as they understand money is tight for many families.

“We’re going to host meals at least once a quarter which are open to the community, open to our food pantry patrons,” he said.

Kevin added they would like to expand the events and provide movie nights, bingo and card nights to bring residents of Marshall County together.

NONPROFIT INFORMATION

Name: Treasured by God Ministries

Address: 310 W. Church St., Gilman

Hours: Thrift store – Noon to 7 p.m., Thursdays; 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Fridays; 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., the first Friday and Saturday of each month; Food pantry – 10 a.m. to noon, every second and fourth Saturday of the month. Starting in January, the thrift store will be open five days a week

Phone: 816-944-1785, Kevin Gummert; 641-328-4710, Lauren Miller

Email: treasuredbygodministries@gmail.com

Website: treasuredbygodministries.com

Contact Lana Bradstream at 641-753-6611 ext. 210 or lbradstream@timesrepublican.com.