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Electrical fire destroys Oak Grove food pantry

One of the pantry organizers said that they lost thousands of dollars worth of food in the fire.

OAK GROVE, Arkansas — People in the Oak Grove community leaned on one other after losing their area food pantry to a fire.

It happened early on Tuesday morning and has left organizers and people in need looking for answers and help.

The Grove served more than 500 people every month. Volunteers said that they're still processing things after watching the building go up in flames.

"I just started crying because, you know, I know what this place means to me and my family. And I know what it means to everybody else," said volunteer, Amber Johnson.

Amber Johnson had planned to spend her day volunteering at The Grove until she found out that it had caught fire during the night. 

"I just couldn't believe that you know, it was gone. And that, you know, you know, we're not going to be able to serve those families today. And what are they going to do," Johnson said.

Johnson added that she had relied on the food pantry to feed her family when she first moved to town a year ago. 

"We just really couldn't afford everything we needed. And the grove basically kept us going in between, you know, our checks coming in because we, me and my husband, are both disabled. So, it was greatly appreciated and well needed," she explained.

The food pantry was run by the non-profit, Community Thrive 365. The organization's president, Nick Scarbrough said that they lost thousands of dollars worth of food in the fire.

"Our volunteers are definitely pretty devastated. I know the community is as well as it's kind of become a place for people to go," Scarbrough said.

In addition to giving out free food, The Grove also sold household appliances and clothes at low costs. 

"People could come in and shop like it was a store," he said.

Scarbrough said that the firefighters who responded believed an electrical problem started the blaze. 

"It's an old building, actually an old camp Robinson building that was dropped off here back in the 60s. So they said there might have to do with the old building, just itself," he said.

While the future of the pantry remains unclear, Scarbrough said that others have already stepped up to fill the need now left behind.

"I know a lot of organizations and churches have reached out and said, Hey, if you guys need a place to start doing some stuff while you kind of adjust, we'll see how that works out," he said.

According to Scarbrough, there aren't any set plans yet when it comes to rebuilding, but they're considering making a temporary food pantry in a different building on the same land as the old one.

If you would like to donate to the cause, you can do so on the Community Thrive 365 website.

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