Yellville Area Food Closet Receives Funding for Repairs South Shore Foundation, represented here by Roger Bates (at left), a board member, granted $5,520 to the Yellville Area Food Closet recently for roof repairs needed due to leaks and storm damage. Lisa Davis, operations manager of the Yellville Area Food Closet, accepted the grant funds. She said the repair work was completed in early April. The food closet is open Thursday mornings and serves more than 200 area families. For food closet information, call Davis at 449-2076.

The Yellville Area Food Closet received a $5,520 grant for roof repairs needed at its building on Hwy. 62 east of Yellville from the South Shore Foundation during its first quarterly meeting of 2008. South Shore Foundation is the charitable organization of Northern Arkansas Telephone Co. (NATCO) of Flippin.

Dale Query of Flippin, a South Shore board member, made the motion to approve the grant and to require that the repairs be completed in six months. The board will ask for an update at that time. Chuck Decker, the food closet’s fund-raiser, said the severe storms of Feb. 5 had “finished off” the roof which had been leaking for awhile.

Decker said the organization serves all of Marion County, but that residents residing within the city limits of Bull Shoals and Flippin are encouraged to go to the food closets in those towns. 

The Yellville Area Food Closet is open on Thursday mornings 9 a.m. until noon except when a month has a fifth Thursday, when it is closed. It normally serves more than 200 families of various sizes, from two to eight persons per household. Those who come to the Food Closet receive food only once each month, he said.

The Yellville Area Food Closet has operated since 1988 and was expanded in 1998 using all volunteer help. Sources for the food supplies include Feed the Children, local grocers, area high schools, scouts, and sportsmen’s groups. Financial contributions are received from churches, businesses, civic organizations, individuals, and grants – such as Federal Emergency Management Agency.

For more information about the Yellville Area Food Closet, contact Operations Manager Lisa Davis at (870) 449-2076.

For details about the South Shore Foundation, call 1-800-775-6682.

NATCO is an independent telecommunications company, family owned since 1951, providing telephone service to six exchanges: Bull Shoals, Diamond City, Flippin, Lead Hill, Omaha and Pyatt. The Web site address of NATCO is www.natconet.com. Its Internet division, NATCO Technologies, provides Internet services throughout northern Arkansas and southern Missouri.