Volunteers at a Luxora food pantry are looking for a new location in the Mississippi County town after their building burned.
"We've got people coming by for food today, but we're at a standstill," Donnice Haymon, who operates the food pantry, said Monday.
Fire damaged the God's Angel Ministry at 306 S. Main St. in downtown Luxora on Thursday, said Police Chief Albert Wright. It appears the fire began in an unattended stove inside the pantry, he said.
The fire burned through the roof of the building, and fire and smoke heavily damaged the inside, Wright said. The building will probably be condemned because of the extent of the damage, he said.
Members of the Osceola Fire Department contained the fire after about three hours, the chief said. There were no injuries, and he does not suspect that the fire was deliberately set.
God's Angel Ministry, which opened two years ago, serves about 150 people a month in the town of 1,178, Haymon said.
On Nov. 12, someone broke through a wall in the building and stole $3,000 worth of frozen chicken legs and breasts, hamburger meat, gizzards, ribs and Boston butts that were delivered to the pantry two days before. Haymon said she was still able to give turkeys to families in need after receiving donations before Thanksgiving.
But Haymon now worries the food pantry won't have a new location in time for Christmas.
"We've had families stop by today while we've been cleaning this out," she said Monday. "They are looking for their food, but we don't have an answer for them."
She said at least 15 people came to the food pantry Monday morning.
Haymon didn't know how much the loss of the food would cost.
Meat stored in the freezer was ruined because firefighters had to shut off the electricity while battling the blaze. She said she was told Monday that she would also have to destroy bundles of dried beans and rice because they received smoke damage. Canned foods were also lost, she said.
"We hope and pray we can get some help and get what we need," Haymon said. "We're looking for a temporary place.
"We're at a standstill now," she said.
Haymon said she's checked with other building owners since the fire but has not been able to find one for her food pantry.
State Desk on 12/09/2014