“Well, God actually,” she laughed.

She says her faith is the driving force behind helping others.

Photo by Holly Dutton

Ray, along with good friend and fellow Stonebridge church member Tia Plum, said they felt pulled by God to open a food pantry for needy families in the area.

“We started talking about it last spring,” she said.

After the two friends helped supply more than 200 backpacks and school supplies for Magnolia Parkway elementary school, they really began to put the project together.

“God kind of took it from there,” Plum said.

“We opened August 25,” Ray said. “We worked all summer and all spring getting it ready and getting everything in place.”

The pantry, located off FM 1488 on Lago Vista Real Street, currently has 50 volunteers that help stock shelves and transport food, among other things. The pantry served eight families on its first day open, Ray said.

“Our motto is feeding the hungry, body and soul,” she said. “We’d like to help people in other ways, all the way up to the spiritual.”

Ray cited current economic times and the lack of available food pantries in the area as reasons for starting the pantry.

“The need is so great right now,” she said. “We started thinking about reaching out to the Magnolia area. We decided we were going to work with anybody who needs our help. We don’t want to limit anyone right now especially with the economy the way it is. We want to serve anyone we can and work together.”

Ray, a resident of the Woodlands, has plenty of experience in community service. She and her daughter previously worked for the National Charity League, and also worked with pregnant teenagers.

The pantry relies on donations from the community, but is also helped by the nearby Stonebridge church, which pays the lease on the facility.

Prior to opening the pantry, Stonebridge church held a month-long food drive that received 2400 lbs of food. When the church’s youth group held a drive, they brought in 2200 lbs—in only two hours.

Ray said she found a big help in a fellow church member and Eagle Scout, Caleb Wilkins, 14, of The Woodlands.

As part of an Eagle Scout project, Wilkins planned and coordinated a team to build and paint the numerous shelves that hold all the food in the pantry. The project began in mid-July and finished near the first of September.

Wilkins said he and volunteers spent 600 hours total on the project, which he secured donations to pay for from several local businesses and private donors.

Ray said she has been amazed at the large amount of support from the community, including churches and school districts that refer families to the pantry.

“I think God’s blessing it,” she said.

For information on donating to the Stonebridge Food Pantry, visit www.gostonebridge.com/stonebridgefoodpantry.

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