Joshua’s Storehouse CEO Disappointed by Casper City Council Funding Decision

Joshua’s Storehouse officials say plans to expand the organization’s warehouse will likely move forward despite a recent Casper City Council decision to shelf a pair of optional one-cent funding requests.

Councilors on Wednesday tabled a $270,000 request from Joshua’s Storehouse that food pantry officials say would have gone toward expansion of the organization’s downtown Casper warehouse.

Joshua’s Storehouse CEO Jay Martin says he’s troubled by the decision.

“(City council is) very concerned about the citizens of Casper, and I understand that – It’s a great concern, because most councils don’t think of the citizenry because they have their own agendas,” Martin said. “But, it’s the citizens of Casper that we’re feeding. We’re approaching one million pounds of food we’ve distributed, and I have no place to store more food.”

Martin says, if council denies the Joshua’s Storehouse request, the organization will have to look for its expansion funds elsewhere.

“They decided that they wanted to look closer, and now we’re on the receiving end,” Martin said. “I just have to work harder.”

Martin says he'd likely focus on additional fundraising to fund the $343,000 project.

Council also tabled a request from the Mercer Family Resource Center for $100,000 that would have been put toward resolving debt caused by state and federal budget cuts.

Councilors say both requests were delayed to make room for an expected spike in requests for city funding after state and federal funding reductions.