Red Oak Outfitters Helps Local Food Pantry

Joel Copas, second from right, presents a check to Dot Mazier of the West Noble Food Pantry on Tuesday. Behind them are the many boxes of food items purchased by Copas and donated to the pantry. Shown with them are, from left, Brandon Pippenger, Ray Kinzer and Matt Wedding. Wedding and Pippenger are employees of Copas’s Red Oak Outfitters; Kinzeris a long-time volunteer at the pantry.

(Reprinted from Ligonier Advance-Leader newspaper, Nov. 26, 2008)

Thanksgiving Made Happier
Generous donation given to local food pantry.

BY BOB BUTTGEN
bbuttgen@kpcnews.net

LIGONIER — The spirit of giving can be always be found at the West Noble Food Pantry, where volunteers give of themselves so others can have enough food in their homes.

But on Tuesday, two days before Thanksgiving, the sweet smell of generosity was extra strong in the air at the food pantry, located on Gerber Street in Ligonier.

That’s because Joel Copas of Albion stopped by with a few of his employees to deliver nearly a truck-load of food to the pantry, along with a $500 check.

Copas, a 1992 graduate of West Noble High School, has made a habit of giving back to his community over the years. He operates Red Oak Outfitters, a successful hunting and guide operation out of Noble County, including 2,000 acres in and around Ligonier. Hunters come from across the nation and even from foreign countries to hunt on Copas’ land.

Copas has developed a reputation in this area for making sizeable donations to food pantries as well as Noble House shelters. For the West Noble Food Pantry, Copas purchased a very size able quantity of food from Kraft and personally delivered it to the Ligonier location, where volunteer Dot Mazier gladly accepted the gifts. There were a few tears in her eyes as she thanked Copas for his generosity, and those came a few minutes before he handed over the $500 check.

“I just can’t say enough about your generosity,” said Mazier, who retired a couple of years ago from the West Noble School Corp., where for many years she ran the high school cafeteria. She now donates a lot of hours every month to helping run the food pantry in Ligonier.

Copas was modest in accepting the praise and thanks from Mazier and other volunteers gathered at the food pantry, as the shipment was unloaded. Nearly 100 boxes filled with cereal, prepared meals, cookies, peanuts, snacks and other items took up about half of the waiting room at the pantry.

The West Noble Food Pantry serves more than 100 families every month, offering not only food but household items such as paper towels, etc. to those in need.

More volunteers are needed to help keep up with the rising influx of people who come to the pantry for help, according to Mazier. And even though Copas’ big contribution will help, more food and donations are needed.

Mazier helped serve lunches to several thousand students at West Noble High School over the years, and now she’s asking for those students to return the favor by bringing in food to the pantry. Jars of peanut butter are always in big demand, she said.

The pantry is open only on Thursdays and patrons must meet eligibility requirements in order to be helped. If there were more volunteers, the pantry could go back to being open two days a week. More information on helping the West Noble Food Pantry, with donations of food or money, or by volunteering, is available by contacting Billie Miller of Ligonier at 894-4938.