KG Ariagno, Linda Copeland, Kathy Foote, Pam Wimsatt and Phil Graham were most surprised last Wednesday afternoon, when members of the Western Area Chapter for the TVA Retirees Association interrupted their Trigg County Helping Hands & Bargain Barn board meeting — only to gift them a $1,000 check earmarked for the community food bank, located on Line Street.
The group frequently makes donations to food banks in its five-county radius, and had just given $11,500 to the City of Cadiz for its first-ever electric vehicle charging station in the downtown area.
Ariagno, co-founder of the full organization, and Copeland, director of food stuffs, said every single donated dollar matters regardless of where it goes, but also made clearer a picture of Trigg County’s need for giving groceries.
Graham noted that in the 2022 fiscal year alone, Helping Hands spent $43,000 just on groceries — and that this didn’t account for the maintenance, nor the housing costs of those foods. He estimated that the total bill was $60,000, or roughly $5,000 per month.
So if one were to assign $125 per grocery allotment per week, that’s the equivalent of assisting 10 individuals and/or families every seven days, 40 per month, and 480 per year.
That’s more than 3% of Trigg County’s population regularly seeking assistance, and likely a low-ball figure.
What’s been a blessing in the last 18 months, however, is the organization’s relocation of the Bargain Barn to 307 Main Street — inside the old Culligan’s Water and Pennyrile Home Medical Building.
It’s here, where growth and brand recognition are truly starting to coalesce.
Foote, director of the “best non-profit thrift store in Cadiz,” alongside Copeland said the generous surrounding community and army of unpaid volunteers — usually between eight and 20 individuals — help turn donated truckloads into renewed hopes for tomorrow.
What’s more: with each sale at the Bargain Barn, comes a bigger vision for Helping Hands. The group owns the entire Main Street plot from frontage to Lafayette Street. Already open on opposite days, Foote said the plan is to eventually have the food pantry moved from Line Street on over to the thrift store property.
It would mean those in need, and those wishing to donate, could share a parking spot in the one-stop-shop.
Foote said the original plan was to have the food bank moved after the property’s acquisition, but local donations of goods have been too great, too quickly, and the building now has become a place to receive, sort, store and maintain other community efforts.
Foote also noted that the organization keeps a private running ledger of customers seeking specific support, and often put out messages on social media vouching for folks needing “x, y and z” for their homes and loved ones.
Often, the call is answered.
From the old coal bin in the Trigg County courthouse, to the flooding and moldy building downtown, to a vacant church and a former supply store, things have only continued to improve for Helping Hands and The Bargain Barn.
No need is too great; no donation too small.
For questions, concerns or daily business, Foote can be reached by phone at (256) 655-2142. The Bargain Barn is open from 10 AM until 1 PM Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, while the Food Bank is open with the same hours Monday and Friday.
