A winning renovation: Hunger Free Food Pantry wins contest, gets facelift

The First Lutheran Church in New Rockford is sporting a newly renovated basement and food pantry, complete with brand new flooring and a fresh coat of paint.

First Lutheran has been home to the local food pantry since 2010, where anyone in need has been able to grab non-perishables, frozen foods and other items free of charge.

Now, those that frequent the food pantry will notice significant changes to the space where it's located, as renovations were just completed this month.

Amy Perleberg, First Lutheran's office administrator, says discussions began about potentially renovating the space last fall, as the area was outdated and inefficient for volunteers.

"There was a large island in the center of the room which made it not very efficient for the food pantry," explained Perleberg.

Once the island was out, she added, the flooring then had to be replaced, and from there they figured they should bring it all together with a fresh coat of paint, replacing the "horrible yellow color" of their old cupboards.

The result is a refreshing and optimized food pantry for all those that need it, and it may not have been possible without their old, ugly floor.

According to Perleberg, their hopes of updating the food pantry didn't become reality until they won Tom's Home Furnishings' "Ugly Floor Contest" earlier this year.

The winner, determined by whoever's ugly floor got the most likes on Facebook, would receive free flooring to replace the ugly floors they submitted.

Dozens were in the running, but First Lutheran's ugly basement floor came out victorious, receiving the most Facebook likes and $1,000 worth of any flooring they desired.

Levi Kouba, owner of Flatland Flooring Co. in New Rockford, then worked to install the new flooring from Tom's Home Furnishings.

Kouba opened Flatland Flooring in October of 2021, and has been working to help customers with their flooring needs ever since. Kouba has 10 years of installment experience, and Perleberg said she was happy with the service he provided.

"He did a wonderful job, and very quickly and efficiently," she said. "Within a week he had the floor all prepped and the flooring installed."

Once the floor was in, generous volunteers did the rest.

"We could not have a wonderful food pantry without all our volunteers that helped with the project," said Perleberg. "I had volunteers who removed the island, took care of the plumbing ... and painted all the cabinets and reinstalled them."

Perleberg also expressed gratitude to the volunteers who work with the food pantry and make it operational every week, and she's happy to have a new space for them that makes their work more efficient.

When speaking about the improvements, Perleberg said, "It has made it super efficient for my volunteers to come pack boxes of food for me, because everything's all laid out like a grocery store now, instead of here, there and everywhere."

The pantry has non-perishable foods, frozen foods, and occasionally some fresh fruits and vegetables, which is possible thanks to the Great Plains Food Bank in Fargo and the generous donations of those in the local community.

The food pantry at the First Lutheran Church in New Rockford is available to anyone that needs it from 1-4 p.m. on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays.