Blanding • When the first food bank opened in Blanding in 2006, it wasn't long before people were driving more than four hours there for a single box of food. And yet San Juan County still might not have any food bank without the Blanding disability center that took on the project.

It began with an idea. Gina Hunt, a mentally disabled 34-year-old, wanted to start a food bank, and with the help of the Transitions Disability Center, her idea became reality.

Sandra Asbury, the director of Transitions, said she always encouraged her "kids" at the center to find projects that kept them active in their communities.

"When we bring them in, we ask what their goals are, what they would like to do in life," she said.

So when Hunt came to Asbury with her idea for a food bank, Asbury was eager to help.

"It's kind of huge now," said Hunt, her eyes squinting below the brim of her baseball cap. "Our store got big, and we have lots of food we have to give out."

By 2009, Asbury was persuaded to help open three more food banks in San Juan County. There are few local assistance programs in San Juan County, even though it has the highest poverty rate in Utah and 25 percent of its residents use food stamps, according to the Utah Division of Housing and Community Development and the Community Action Partnership of Utah.

"There's a lot of people who come here to get food, people ranging from 80 to people in college who can just barely make it," said Thomas Hawkins, who works at the Blanding food bank.

In any given month the food banks — all of which are a part of Transitions — serve roughly 700 families.

But the food bank hasn't just helped the community: It's also helped Hunt.

Before the food banks opened, Hunt was a recluse, Asbury said. She never left her small apartment, spending nearly all her time in the living room with the shades drawn watching soap operas.

Now Hunt spends more of her time volunteering at the food bank or with friends at the Transitions Center.

"We fed a lot of people," Hunt said.

gbarker@sltrib.comTwitter: @ginabarker