TUCSON, Ariz. — Every Friday at 6 a.m. Myra Palmer starts passing out numbers for people to get in line to receive food at the Flowing Wells Assembly of God Church's Food Bank.
For 40 years, Flowing Wells Assembly of God has been bringing smile to the community by providing food to those in need every Friday morning.
"We're a fairly low income community," Palmer said. "There's a lot of homeless people in this community, a lot of people on social security or very low income."
Palmer said this food bank is very important to the community to "help people feed their children, feed their families."
Palmer's been coming to the food bank for 2 and half years, but started her journey here as the person receiving food.
"My husband's a veteran, and we were on social security. Things were a little tight and a little rough and everything," Palmer said. "We heard about this and started coming to get some food and it just progressed from there."
Now, Palmer is the head of all Food Operations and has been for the past 8 months. She believes in treating everyone equally and making sure people in the community never have to worry about food.
Meet Myra. She gets up every Friday morning at 4 a.m. to come to Flowing Wells Assembly of God church to help pass out donated food to those in need. She use to be one of the people receiving food, but now, helping others is the best part of her week. @kgun9 pic.twitter.com/TxBTBohECq
— Veronika Vernachio (@vvernachio) February 15, 2019
"She has a heart of pure gold," Myra's Husband, Paul Palmer said.
People can start getting numbers to get in line to receive food at 6 a.m. After that point, people can come in at 9:30 a.m. to start the wait to select what they want.
The donated food comes from The Community Food Bank, Caring Ministry and Gap Ministry.
Here’s a look inside what the fellowship hall at Flowing Wells Assembly of God looks every Friday morning, but they’re still not done unloading! At 9:30 a.m., Myra and other volunteers will start passing out this food. @kgun9 pic.twitter.com/oWe4BZpdu3
— Veronika Vernachio (@vvernachio) February 15, 2019
Each table is filled in the food bank with everything from dairy products to vegetables and even desserts, lots of dessert. All people in line can select one item from each table, but they can select exactly what they want.
The room is filled with people waiting for their numbers to be called to receive food. Make sure to tune in next week on Good Morning Tucson to learn more about what makes this pantry so special. @kgun9 pic.twitter.com/Xm2xNx3xnC
— Veronika Vernachio (@vvernachio) February 15, 2019
Palmer said about 100 people come out to get food every Friday and most of them are regulars.
"They're becoming my friends, I know them by name now. So it's like I see them on the streets and we're like 'hi, how are you,'" Palmer said.
To many people, they said seeing Myra is one of the best parts of their days.
"She makes me smile... When I see her, it makes my day," participant at the food bank said.
Having a 4 a.m. alarm clock every Friday seems crazy, but for Palmer and her husband it's the best part of their week.
"We look forward to Fridays," Palmer said. "Paul calls it our big day! The big day is here."
