Tucked in the alley behind Sayre’s First Baptist Church is a community resource that’s been quietly helping local families for decades. Most people don’t even realize it’s there, even though it’s been part of Sayre since at least 1998—and maybe longer. It doesn’t have flashing signs or a big parking lot, but on Wednesday nights, it comes alive with quiet purpose. Groceries are sorted. Neighbors are greeted. Needs are met.
“I didn’t even know we had a food pantry,” said Vanessa Welk. “I was signing my kids up for a Wednesday night church thing and saw people walking in and out of this room. I asked someone, ‘What is this place?’ And they said, ‘That’s the food pantry.’ I walked in, got a tour… and I knew immediately that’s where I was supposed to be.”
That moment—simple as it was—stuck with her. “I called my husband and said, ‘I know what I’m supposed to do,’” she said. It wasn’t about starting something new. The pantry was already running thanks to the quiet work of church volunteers and community support. Vanessa just saw a place where she could help, and she jumped in with both feet.
Back then, the pantry relied almost entirely on the generosity of the Sayre community. “Whatever they had, they would hand out,” Welk said. “There were times they just handed out a can of beans.” With no budget and no safety net, church members filled the shelves however they could— even if that meant a last-minute run to Sam’s Club or stretching one bag of rice into ten.
That first night sparked something in Vanessa. “I was just on fire for it,” she said. “I stayed up Googling all kinds of stuff—what can we do, how do we get funding, what can make this grow?” She reached out to Help Inc. in Elk City, who helped guide her through the process of connecting the pantry with the Oklahoma Regional Food Bank. Eventually, she helped the pantry secure a USDA food distribution partnership too.
Through those partnerships, the pantry can now stretch every dollar further. “We order our food through the Oklahoma Regional Food Bank,” Welk said. “We pick it up every second Friday of the month. We still pay a fee, but it’s way cheaper for us.” Between that and the USDA program, the pantry now offers more than ever before.
The pantry is open every Wednesday from 6 to 7 p.m., serving about 40 families each week—roughly 120 individuals. “The need for groceries is astronomical right now,” Welk said.
That’s where the heart of Sayre shines. “Puckett’s grocery store does a brown paper bag of groceries around Thanksgiving and Christmas. People buy it for $10, and that bag comes to us,” said Welk. “I think this year we got around 2,700 bags. That’s huge.”
And in a year when gas prices soared, eggs flirted with luxury status, and every grocery receipt looked like fine dining—Sayre still showed up. With fewer businesses and tighter belts, folks in this community didn’t pull back. They leaned in. They bought those bags, one by one, and helped feed families they might never meet.
Other donations come from the local post office, which runs a canned food drive annually, and from individuals who bring food, toiletries, or clothing. “If somebody has a bag of clothes in their trunk, they can bring it by. If it’s during pantry hours or dropped off at the church office, we’ll get it where it needs to go.”
All are welcome—whether you’re from around the corner, across the county, or just passing through. If you have a need, come see us on a Wednesday night.
We’ll do our best to meet it. The pantry is open every Wednesday from 6 to 7 p.m.
Welk, who also works at Great Plains National Bank, started running last summer with her husband. “We needed it. He had some health issues, and it’s been so good for him,” she said. “We did our first 5K in Elk City and loved it. I knew while I was still there—I wanted to do this in Sayre, for the food pantry.”
That idea became reality. Sayre’s first-ever 5K to benefit the food pantry will take place during Alumni Weekend on Saturday, April 19. Packet pickup begins at 7 a.m., with the race starting at 8 a.m. at the Beckham County Health Department. “We’ll run out to the park and back. You can walk. You can run. Or you can just donate. We’ll take it all,” Welk said.
Each participant gets a t-shirt, goody bag, and the chance to win a medal. “We’ve had great sponsors— KanOkla, Route 66 Meat Processing, Thornbrough Farms, Simon’s Catch. Route 66 has donated over 2,500 pounds of ground venison through Hunters Against Hunger,” she said. “That’s a blessing to the families we serve— and it’s a big reason we’re able to keep going.”
And for those wondering— yes, leashed animals are welcome on race day. So bring your dogs, cats, chickens, goats, cows, llamas, zebras—whatever you’ve got. As long as it’s on a leash, it can trot right alongside you.
If you’ve got a giver’s heart, you don’t need to bring a checkbook to make a difference. Maybe you can’t be there every week— and that’s fine. Maybe you’ve got more time than money—or a kid who’s ready to learn what kindness looks like in action. The pantry has room for you, your family, and your good intentions. Like the shelves stocked every Friday, the doors stay open. The work is waiting. And there’s always room for one more set of hands.
