The new food pantry in Grand Ronde, Oregon. Photo from Facebook

The Confederated Grand Ronde Tribes of Oregon hosted a grand opening for a new food pantry on the reservation.

The closest full-service grocery store is more than 30 minutes away, The Salem Statesman Journal reported. So the new Iskam MǝkhMǝk-Haws, which means "The House Where You Get Food" in the Chinuk Wawa language, provides an important service for the community.

"At the heart of it, this is supposed to be about building community through food," Rick Gaupo, the president of the Marion-Polk Food Share, told the paper.

The Marion-Polk Food Share manages the pantry, which officially opened in December, through a partnership with the tribe. Its a first for the non-profit organization.

The tribe built a 3,300-square-foot center to house the pantry. It's located across the from the housing authority building, Smoke Signals, the tribe's newspaper, reported last November.

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New Grand Ronde food pantry aims to build community (The Salem Statesman Journal 4/10)