Betty and Gary Lashley started volunteering at the Wright City Food Pantry in spring of 2021, and what started as a way for the two retirees to get out of the house has turned into so much more. 

“They’re involved in picking up donations for us, they’re involved in receiving donations that come in the building, they come in and be here to help unload the trucks and put stuff away and manage volunteers, they help the drive through food pantry,” said Alice Windmann. 

They volunteer three to four days a week, and perform every task imaginable from stocking shelves, to repairing and using a forklift that Gary suspects is from the 1950s. 

The couple, who have been married for nearly 56 years, joke that they were “suckered” into volunteering, since their granddaughter, Haley, started at the pantry in 2018. 

When they start talking about the work it becomes clear, the pantry means so much more to them. 

“It’s fulfilling knowing that you’re helping people in the community, and we’ve got the Lord with us that helps us, so we help the community,” said Betty. 

The pair are soft-spoken, and humble in their own efforts, but others are quick to champion how significant their role is. 

“Gary is our maintenance man, he can fix anything,” said Windmann. 

Pastors Kim and Joe Purl echoed those sentiments, underscoring how the pantry would, or would not operate without the Lashleys. 

“He deals with our electrical, plumbing, demolition, we get Gary,” said Pastor Joe. 

Pastor Kim agreed and noted Betty is never far behind. 

“And Betty’s right there, (Gary) is like the surgeon, and (Betty) is like his assistant. She has all the tools and she gets him whatever he needs,” said Pastor Kim. “They’re a pair.”

Recently, Gary’s focus has been on a forklift that they were able to purchase for the pantry and that he has been fixing and using ever since. 

He said it was originally owned by Anheuser-Busch before eventually landing in the hands of a man in St. Clair, who no longer had use for it. 

“They retired down in St. Clair, and when he got old enough that he didn’t want to have it anymore, he sold it to the guy that I bought it from and it’s been sitting for the last 10 years,” said Gary. 

While it is in working order now, the forklift has required a significant amount of attention from Gary and it has become instrumental to operations at the food pantry. One of the modifications involved retrofitting the forklift for 20 gallon propane tanks. 

Gary said it previously ran on 33 gallon tanks which are much harder to find, and more inconvenient to install. 

“That’s my little pride and joy right now,” said Gary. “I just got through putting new brake shoes on it.”

Previously they had to borrow a forklift from a neighboring business when they received deliveries, stymying efforts to keep shelves stocked consistently. 

“They are the ultimate ‘taking care of’ people, if you’ve got a problem, … If you called up and said hey, I broke down, they would be there to get you, even if they were going to do something else,” said Windmann.