Mobile Home Park Manager’s Pantry Helps Families in Need: ‘I Won’t See Anyone Go Hungry’

A woman in Davis County, Utah, is making sure struggling community members do not go hungry amid economic hardship.

When 79-year-old Pat Blake, who manages two mobile home parks, realized some of her residents’ children were hungry after their parents asked about getting help with feeding them she immediately took action, the Washington Post reported Sunday.

Blake grew up in a single parent household, therefore, she knows what it means to endure hunger and difficulty.

She used her own money and bought extra groceries to stock in her office to meet the need. The manager then informed residents they were welcome to take what they needed.

Blake said it did not matter where a child lives because “they all deserve to be fed.”

An image shows the smiling manager with a resident outside his home:

“Needing groceries is nothing to be ashamed of,” Pat Blake said. “We could all use a boost sometimes. These families need someone, and I’m happy that I can be that person to help.”https://t.co/0OAruLOWnj

— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) April 10, 2023

However, the project grew so much that Blake began using a large room behind her office to do even more to care for neighbors.

Her residence is a mobile home in one of the communities she manages called Apple Acres. A friend helped her build shelves in the unused room at the second park, called Willow Pines, which transformed the space into a food pantry.

Blake also contacted the Bountiful Food Pantry that serves people in Davis County “with food, self-reliance training, and volunteer opportunities,” according to the organization’s Facebook page.

The group now visits the parks twice a month to help feed neighbors.

Willow Pines resident Linda Wilson said, “I’ve lived in several mobile home parks over the years, and I’ve never run across a manager like Pat,” adding the woman also invests her time into residents to better recognize their needs.

In addition, Blake used her own money to help buy Christmas presents for the children at Willow Pines, according to a 2021 social media post from the Kaysville Police Department:

She was recently honored with special surprises that included gift cards for groceries and others to pamper herself, Fox 13 News Utah reported in March.

While standing inside her large pantry, Blake said, “You know, with the economy and everything the way it is this is the least I can do to give back to them. I won’t see anyone go hungry.”