Love INC readies for Thanksgiving needs

by Philip A. Janquart

 Pam Burris needed a job.

 She had worked as a teacher at a private school after moving with her family to Weiser years ago, but the school eventually closed its doors, triggering an employment search.

 It left an opening for a higher power, a Guy you might say often leads His people in unexpected directions.

 That’s when Burris came across an ad in the newspaper for a director position at a local charitable organization. 

 Although intent on finding another teaching position, she felt the urge to consider the opening.

 “I didn’t feel I was qualified,” said Burris, whose husband, Joe, is an educator at Annex Charter School. “I read the job description and went, ‘Nope, that’s not for me,’ because it was all about fund raising and development. The ad said candidates should have a bachelor’s in social work or business management, or something like that. I had a bachelor’s, but it wasn’t in any of that stuff.”

 Doubting her qualifications, she nonetheless applied and, when all was said and done, Burris was named Executive Director of Love INC (Love In the Name of Christ).

 “It was a huge learning curve,” said Burris who is now in her 11th year. “It was learning about tax compliance, legal aspects, and a lot of other things.”

 At the time of her hire, Washington County’s affiliate of this national, non-profit organization was only about a year into its mission of providing assistance to local families in need, Burris taking over the reigns for the original founder of the local branch.

 Love INC brings Christian churches together “as the body of Christ,” each of the 17 churches in the county pooling their resources and specializing in specific areas of need to service communities.

 The food pantry is housed at the Love INC office in Weiser, at 722 W. Idaho St., with area churches providing everything from toiletries to mattresses, winter coats to furniture.

 “Most of our things are stored within our partner churches; so, for example, we have one church that does hygiene products and has a storeroom full of shampoos, toothpaste, soaps, combs, etc., and another church that provides bedding, and another that gives out beds,” Burris explained. “So, we serve as a clearing house, or hub, that organizes all of it. Our mission follows the national model for Love INC, which serves communities all over the U.S. and, actually, one in Kenya, Africa.”

Thanksgiving Boxes

 The organization provides food boxes throughout the year but is especially busy in the weeks leading up to Thanksgiving when many families need a little extra assistance.

 Typically, Love INC distributes between 40 and 60 Thanksgiving boxes during the holiday but saw a significant increase last year.

 “We went from 56 in 2019, to 100 in 2020, and we are planning for another 100 again this year,” Burris said. “Families took a big hit during the Pandemic. They had hours cut short, or some of them weren’t working. There were a number of different factors, so we almost doubled the number of boxes we prepared.”

 It’s all made possible by the army of volunteers who contribute time and energy to the cause, including various youth groups who fill the boxes.

 Burris said the organization doesn’t provide additional services during the Christmas season.

 “With Christmas coming up, we won’t do any special projects,” she said. “I have applications here on my desk for Help Them to Hope, which Hometown Motors is very highly involved in, and there is also the Ho-Ho Express, which Joe Malay does.”

 Help Them to Hope, based in Ontario, provides financial assistance and goods to families in need during the Christmas season. Ho-Ho Express is a special annual event for kids who are taken on busses to Walmart in Ontario where they are allowed to buy gifts for family members. 

 “We have all of these different programs and we don’t want to duplicate services,” Burris said. “If a family comes to us, we give them an application for one of these programs, have them fill it out, and then we get it to where it needs to go, so we  dovetail onto programs that already exist.”

Weiser Elks

 This year, the Weiser Elks Lodge awarded Love INC with a $2,000 grant that will be used to buy 100 turkeys for the boxes, which is a big expense the organization was happy to eliminate.

 “Normally we have our church partners and families donate our turkeys but this year, Cale Harvey from the Elks said they had a grant that needed to be used for feeding people, so the turkeys are completely covered by this grant,” Burris said.

Harvey, who recently awarded the Weiser Police Department’s After School Program with a $3,500 grant, said the turkey’s have already been purchased.

 “When we get these grants, we look for local organizations that are doing good things in the community. I heard about Love INC through our church. They are really good people and do a lot for the community,” he said. “I knew that this particular grant had to go for food, so when I called Pam, she said the big need was turkeys, and that’s what we did. Moses [Claudio], who is a member of the Elks, is the meat manager at Ridley’s, so we were able to get that set up through him. He’s a good guy and really helped us out with this. We buy a lot of stuff from Ridley’s. They have been great.”

 Ridley’s also donates candy and other items to the Thanksgiving boxes.

 Other big contributors include Haun Packing, which donates onions, and local Bi-Mart employees who rally together every year, donating about eight food boxes to the cause.

 Looking back, Burris, who didn’t think she was right for the job, has become an important cog in Weiser’s mechanism of giving but she would never take the credit.

“There are a lot of good people out there and without their generous donation of time, talent, and goods, many people would go without,” she said.

 For more information about Love INC, visit www.loveincwashingtoncounty.org, call (208) 414-5683 or send an email to wacountyloveinc@gmail.com.