MULLENS, W.Va. - The Itmann Food Pantry could have said a lot about resurrection even before the devastating fire last month.

When flash floods ravaged Wyoming County in July of 2001, 20 years' worth of client records and documents went down the Guyandotte River. With no flood insurance, the pantry had to find money to rebuild.

Then in 2005, the longtime director had to retire and volunteers worried the pantry might shut down, though between 300 and 400 families rely on it for food and clothing every month.

In the end, Arnie and Kathy Simonse decided to take the job and keep the pantry running with a dedicated group of volunteers.

Even with those close calls behind them, the fire on Oct. 5 was especially painful, less than two months before Thanksgiving.

 But the Itmann Food Pantry didn't miss a beat, opening the doors again with enough supplies to carry the needy in Wyoming County into the New Year.

Only a few pots and pans survived the pantry fire in the basement of the Mullens Veterans Memorial Building. The stored food was ruined and four large freezers destroyed.

The pantry also lost the new clothes, toys and comforters its volunteers set aside during the year to give away at Christmas.

"That was the saddest loss. All those Christmas gifts we won't be able to replace," Arnie Simonse said.

"If it wasn't the fire, it was the smoke. If it wasn't the smoke, it was the heat or the water they sprayed in there. We lost everything."

Though most of the building was spared when an old extension cord ignited the blaze, the fire burned at about 1,400 degrees in the pantry area.

"The covers on the fluorescent lights at the other end of the building were in little puddles on the floor," Arnie Simonse said.

The fire was covered by the city's insurance and workers started stripping the basement walls to the studs two days later. The pantry should be back in the space it has occupied since 1995, by early next year.

But the Wyoming County clients couldn't wait two months for renovations and the pantry decided to operate temporarily in an old Big Lots store through the busy holiday season.

Pantry workers in heavy coats spent last week stacking, packing and sorting at Big Lots to prepare for Friday's Thanksgiving distribution. Workmen tinkered alongside them, trying to get the building's heat functioning in time.

MULLENS, W.Va. - The Itmann Food Pantry could have said a lot about resurrection even before the devastating fire last month.

When flash floods ravaged Wyoming County in July of 2001, 20 years' worth of client records and documents went down the Guyandotte River. With no flood insurance, the pantry had to find money to rebuild.

Then in 2005, the longtime director had to retire and volunteers worried the pantry might shut down, though between 300 and 400 families rely on it for food and clothing every month.

In the end, Arnie and Kathy Simonse decided to take the job and keep the pantry running with a dedicated group of volunteers.

Even with those close calls behind them, the fire on Oct. 5 was especially painful, less than two months before Thanksgiving.

 But the Itmann Food Pantry didn't miss a beat, opening the doors again with enough supplies to carry the needy in Wyoming County into the New Year.

Only a few pots and pans survived the pantry fire in the basement of the Mullens Veterans Memorial Building. The stored food was ruined and four large freezers destroyed.

The pantry also lost the new clothes, toys and comforters its volunteers set aside during the year to give away at Christmas.

"That was the saddest loss. All those Christmas gifts we won't be able to replace," Arnie Simonse said.

"If it wasn't the fire, it was the smoke. If it wasn't the smoke, it was the heat or the water they sprayed in there. We lost everything."

Though most of the building was spared when an old extension cord ignited the blaze, the fire burned at about 1,400 degrees in the pantry area.

"The covers on the fluorescent lights at the other end of the building were in little puddles on the floor," Arnie Simonse said.

The fire was covered by the city's insurance and workers started stripping the basement walls to the studs two days later. The pantry should be back in the space it has occupied since 1995, by early next year.

But the Wyoming County clients couldn't wait two months for renovations and the pantry decided to operate temporarily in an old Big Lots store through the busy holiday season.

Pantry workers in heavy coats spent last week stacking, packing and sorting at Big Lots to prepare for Friday's Thanksgiving distribution. Workmen tinkered alongside them, trying to get the building's heat functioning in time.

"People have been so good to us," said Kathy Simonse, standing beside a pile of potatoes and palates of canned goods and peanut butter.

Two churches have paid to replace three of the four destroyed freezers. Local citizens have given money and donated house items.

The pile of special Christmas presents, while not entirely replenished, is growing. And what the pantry couldn't get in time, it bought locally, including a Thanksgiving turkey for every client.

Longtime volunteer Linda McClure started packing the food boxes for Thanksgiving last week, as others sorted through donated clothing at the store. McClure has volunteered for more than 20 years and can't see herself anywhere else every Monday.

"We didn't want to skip a month," McClure said. "People need us more now, with the economy. We just can't do anything else."

The pantry doesn't open the doors until 10 a.m. on distribution day, the third Friday of the month, but clients often arrive as early as 5:30 a.m. to wait, visiting their neighbors and friends.

"At Thanksgiving, you'll see so many people out there," Kathy Simonse said. "It's like the old home week. People know each other,"

Wyoming County has lost more than half of its population and many of its middle-income jobs over the last several decades, meaning the food pantry fills a great need, Arnie Simonse said.

Between the increasingly elderly population and those disabled by risky jobs in the mining and timber industries, many residents are unable to keep up with rising costs while living on fixed incomes.

"It's a wonderful place to live if you have a job, but there are just no jobs for them," Arnie Simonse said.

The Itmann Food Pantry has resolved to meet those needs in exile, thanks to the outpouring of support from the community, but the volunteers can't wait to get back to their beautiful basement space, a renovated former bar that they once marched around to "claim it for the Lord," McClure said.

"We seem to have a history of destroying it and rebuilding," Arnie Simonse said. "And like most bad things that happen, there is a wonderful side, which is the generosity of people."

Contact Mountaineer Food Bank at 364-5518 or visit www.mountaineerfoodbank.com.

Reach Kellen Henry at khe...@wvgazette.com or 348-5179.