GARRARD COUNTY, Ky. (LEX 18) — The minute news spread that a devastating fire destroyed the Garrard County Food Pantry, Director Gregory Cash's phone started ringing.
"You see these Hallmark movies and that's what it's like," Cash said. "You got something tragic, and at that very moment they're trying to put out the fire and my phone is ringing from people, we want to help what can we do?"
Since that moment, people haven't stopped donating to replace what was lost and so much more.
"It's a blessing," Cash said. "We've never had that much food."
The pantry was able to feed more than 700 families Thanksgiving meals with the donations received.
They still have about 80 thousand pounds of donated food left in a semi-truck, and it's headed straight for the pantry's new home.
The new space is an old mini-mart on Baker Street in Lancaster. According to Cash, community leaders helped him secure a year-long lease for the building.
Cash said it's more than twice the size of the old building, and it has more than twice the freezer and cold storage space.
On Monday, a few more freezers were donated.
The local Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has also pledged to donate 24 pallets of food.
Cash hopes after getting it cleaned up and inspected, the mini-mart turned giant help for the community, will be fully operational within a week.
