RVAA receives $7,000 grant for Food Pantry

Last updated Apr 12, 2012 12:0pm0

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RVAA DONATION. Ritzville Volunteer Ambulance Association members Roni Kinney (left) and Phil Bowman (right) presented Food Pantry representative Sandi Wilks (center) with a $7,000 check from the Walmart Corporation. Kinney applied for a grant to help the Food Pantry in December and received the funds on April 4. –Journal photo by Katelin Davidson

The Ritzville Volunteer Ambulance Association (RVAA) applied for a $1,000 grant from Walmart’s Hunger Outreach Grant Program to assist the Ritzville Food Pantry in December. The RVAA received an e-mail on Jan. 24, announcing they received the grant, along with additional funds, totaling $7,000.

Roni Kinney, an EMT for the RVAA, applied for the grant during Walmart’s “12 days of giving” last December. Kinney applied for the first day of the Christmas grants, titled “Fighting Hunger.”

“I’ve seen the shelves in there and I know how empty they are,” said Kinney. “A grant like this helps to stock the shelves and provide the Food Pantry with a continuous amount of food.”

Kinney began looking for grants to help raise money for the turkey drive, and then discovered Walmart’s Christmas grants. Phil Bowman, head of the RVAA, said that Kinney had not been required to find grants, she did it simply because she wanted to help.

The RVAA received the grant check on April 4 and immediately visited the Food Pantry to present them with the donation.