Boxes Spread Blessings Throughout County

by Elizabeth Pitts-Hibbard
Nursing students delivered hundreds of pounds of beef to community members in need; the beef was from three cows donated to the Blessings Box program by Dr. Jeff and Kim Hammond. Nursing students delivered hundreds of pounds of beef to community members in need; the beef was from three cows donated to the Blessings Box program by Dr. Jeff and Kim Hammond.

It’s safe to say that Rose Massey is a busy woman. Starting out with one box, located on 5th Street in Marlow, she has taken the Blessings Box concept to locations throughout Stephens County and beyond.

“It’s been quite the journey,” Massey said. “We started with one box and now we have 15 that are either installed or will be in the next month or so.”

The Blessings Boxes are free pantries where people in need of food or hygiene supplies can get what they need immediately, with no application process or information given. Massey said that she first learned of the concept with a similar program in Oklahoma City. “I was driving up to the City to help fill pantry boxes there, and I realized that we had the same need here in Marlow.”

Massey got permission from First United Methodist Church of Marlow to install a Blessings Box near the church on 5th street, and then a second was put in at Eastside Baptist Church to serve additional community members.

“Then First Methodist in Duncan wanted one, and the Duncan Senior Citizens Center, and it’s just expanded exponentially,” Massey said. Additional boxes are being added to Temple, Walters, Waurika, Velma, Comanche, Central High, and Moore.

Massey’s days are now occupied with not only keeping the Marlow boxes full with the assistance of community volunteers, but she also spends time training volunteers in the new locations.

“It’s important that they understand how to ‘host’ the box and keep track,” Massey said. “They have to be careful not to overfill at one time, because some people in need will take everything in there. We try to fill the box a few times a day so more people get the chance to get what they need.”

A few weeks ago Massey was presented with a unique opportunity to help people who were struggling to find fresh meat in grocery stores: a local family who raises cattle offered to donate three cows to the Blessings Box.

“I was getting a lot of messages from people who either couldn’t find meat in the store, couldn’t afford it, or who were worried about leaving their homes,” Massey said. “The stores were cleared out, and some people - particularly elderly people - didn’t feel safe going to Walmart, so they weren’t getting the protein they need.”

Jeff and Kim Hammond contacted Massey to offer the cows; all the community would need to do is raise some money to have them processed.

“The processing fee was $1200, but we managed to raise it quickly,” Massey said. “We ended up with 800 pounds of ground beef.”

At the same time, Massey knew that there were some nursing students in the area who were in need of a community project to complete since their clinical education had been cut short due to the COVID-19 outbreak. She contacted them to see if they would do a project on food and nutrition for the elderly.

The nursing students agreed to do porch drop-offs of ground beef for senior citizens in the area, as well as families with small children who needed the meat.

Massey said that the volunteers delivered 10 pounds of ground beef to more than 80 families.

Despite the donations and volunteer efforts, however, Massey said that the increasing number of unemployed citizens in Stephens County has led to an increase of food insecurity. “We’ve seen a huge increase in the number of people going to the Blessings Box,” she said. “It’s increased to probably 10 families a day.”

She said that as a result, the pantry is running low on food. “We need non-perishable food, we need hygiene products like bar soap and toothpaste, we need diapers and baby food.

“I hope the community will help us respond to the need here, because it’s still growing.”

Current Blessings Box locations:

109 N. Fifth Street, Marlow

Eastside Baptist Church, 605 E. Main, Marlow

Weaver Clinics, 1601 Brookwood Ave, Duncan

Fire Station #2, Ave D and Chestnut, Duncan

Red Diamond Fashions, 136 Oak Main, Comanche

Coming soon:

Dealing Parker Shelter Insurance, 822 Willow Ave, Duncan

Douglass Senior Citizens Center, 702 S. Kings Pl, Duncan

Shotgun Trucking, 601 Main, Velma

Small Town Creations, 218 S. Main, Waurika

Community members who would like to donate food or supplies to the Blessings Box may contact Rose Massey at 580-721-0874.