The Lord’s Cupboard honors Norma and Dick Bogner for 40 years of service

FAIRFIELD – The Lord’s Cupboard food pantry in Fairfield hosted a Chamber of Commerce Member Mixer Thursday in honor of the pantry’s 40th anniversary, where a couple of special guests received a surprise honor.

Norma and Dick Bogner received a framed certificate of appreciation from The Lord’s Cupboard to recognize their 40 years of volunteer service and “personal dedication to the welfare of the citizens of Jefferson County.” Lord’s Cupboard volunteer Connie Miller also presented Norma with a plaque commemorating the founding of The Lord’s Cupboard by Norma Bogner and Tom Smith on Dec. 19, 1982.

Norma said she and Dick were both thrilled and surprised to be recognized at the event.

“I don’t think we need to be honored,” Norma said, humbly. “Dick worked a full-time job so I could volunteer at this, and that’s the truth.”

The Lord’s Cupboard serves 165 families per week, and just last December it gave out 500 Christmas boxes to needy families. But it was not always such a large operation. In fact, when it was founded by Norma Bogner and Tom Smith just over 40 years ago, it occupied nothing larger than a church closet.

Norma recounted that early history on Thursday, saying the idea for a Fairfield food pantry began when resident Tom Smith suffered an injury at work, and was looking for a way to occupy his time while he healed. He and a group of others put a notice in the newspaper to let the public know they wanted to start a food pantry.

Norma said that, before the founding of The Lord’s Cupboard in 1982, some churches had their own food pantries, but there was coordinated effort to have one for the whole town.

How did she know there was a need for a food pantry? At the time, Norma was teaching school, and she sensed that some kids were not eating well at home.

“Children came to school on Monday, and you could tell they had not eaten much over the weekend,” she said. “They would eat anything you put in front of them.”

The initial group of volunteers who met to discuss a food pantry were able to secure a space in the Nazarene Family Center, using one of its closets. For its first distribution of Christmas boxes in 1982, The Lord’s Cupboard served 100 people. Norma became the food pantry’s director, and she and Dick have remained board members for all 40 years of its life thus far, even though recently they’ve been spending half the year in Florida and the other half in Fairfield.

After starting in the Nazarene Family Center, The Lord’s Cupboard moved to downtown Fairfield on Burlington Avenue, but outgrew that space and moved to an office on B Street. It outgrew that one, too, and moved into its current location on North Fourth Street.

Norma said that the usage of The Lord’s Cupboard has gone up over time, which surprised her at first. She hoped that the food pantry would provide temporary relief, and that some day it would no longer be necessary.

“I used to think, ‘We’ll do this, and then things will get better and it won’t be necessary,’” she said. “But now I think we’re always going to have people in need. Thank God there are other people who are willing to step up. I always knew this was the Lord’s work, and I still think that. If you don’t believe it, just look at these shelves and at all the people who volunteer here.”

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Call Andy Hallman at 641-575-0135 or email him at andy.hallman@southeastiowaunion.com

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