Forrest’s Lifeline: The Essential Role of Sabetha’s Food Pantry in Rural Kansas

Forrest Gaston stops by twice a month to shop at the Sabetha Community Pantry on Main Street. In 2011, he was diagnosed with a brain tumor and hasn’t been able to work much ever since.

“I’ve died four times,” the 61-year-old says.

Forrest’s grandfather settled near Sabetha, in northeast Kansas, a century ago. He moved to town a few years ago to be closer to the healthcare he needs. The town, which has a population of less than 3,000 people, is located 60 miles north of Topeka.

Forrest receives SNAP benefits and shops at the pantry for toilet paper, dish and laundry soap, canned goods, fresh fruits and vegetables and soup.

“It really helps us out,” he says of the food he shares with his wife and 16-year-old grandson. “Honestly, I wouldn’t know what I’d do” without it. The pantry has “basically everything a person could use.”

In Sabetha, the proverb “charity starts at home” could be amended to “charity starts on Main Street.” 

“We’re very visible….people drive by and they see a line (of shoppers) and maybe it sparks a little memory of giving to the food pantry,” says LaVonne Aberle, a resident since 1958 and one of the pantry co-managers since 2008. 

The pantry also serves the rural towns of Bern, Fairview and Morrill. Neighbors shop a cozy room lined with well-stocked refrigerators, freezers and shelves with canned goods and other nonperishable food items.

“I would say a good share of (neighbors) are on disability, elderly. We don’t serve a lot of families with children as what I would have expected but there is other help for them,” LaVonne says.