by Valarie Schwartz
Staff Writer
Word came on Monday that shelves at local food pantries were bare. John Dorward, associate director of the Inter-Faith Council (IFC), gladly reported that its food pantry in Carrboro remains in good shape for this time of year. “I’m happy not to have to show you empty shelves,†he said as we walked into the pantry, which contains three long aisles stocked with non-perishable items.
The story was vastly different in Pittsboro, where Tina Gaines, director of the Salvation Army, said that donations were greatly needed.
“We’re still able to meet the need, but sometimes it’s tough,†she said, adding that the Salvation Army has had to purchase $300 to $400 worth of food during the past two months in order to meet demand.
Approximately 1,100 jobs were lost recently with the closing in early June of the Pilgrim’s Pride chicken processing plant in Siler City, but Gaines said that “things started getting worse about a year ago.â€
The pantry at Evergreen United Methodist Church just south of Manns Chapel Road in northern Chatham has seen “a tremendous increase in the last six months,†according to its coordinator, Diane Lassiter. It’s a small pantry (truly a closet, she said), which provides food from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. every Tuesday except the first week of each month. Members can receive food 12 times a year.
“People arrive as early as five, though we don’t encourage it,†she said.
Last week they served 83 people and are experiencing food shortages. In addition to donations from congregants, Harris Teeter provides them produce on Tuesdays and they buy food from the N.C. Food Bank in Durham.
“The best way to help us is through financial donations,†Lassiter said. “The money goes the farthest because of how inexpensively we can obtain food through the food bank, and grocery stores give us discounts too.â€
During this time when every dollar gets stretched, they can do more with it food-wise. “We can get a lot more food than the average person can with the dollar.â€
The food pantries all receive support from local churches and temples, which typically see a reduction in attendance during summer months as people take vacations, thus reducing the amount of food coming into the pantries. Local grocery stores (including Trader Joe’s, which Dorward said has been very helpful) contribute year-round, but as the needs of the people increase, the pantry shelves empty faster.
“We’ve seen an increase in client volume,†said Josie Hartman, client services representative of the Community Program at the Inter-Faith Council. “As rent, gas, food, utilities and prices go up, the more folks need help getting through.†She has worked with volunteers and clients for a year-and-a-half, but she volunteered as a client interviewer for six or seven years before taking the job. She said that they serve as many people in a day as they can, sending up to 100 bags of groceries a day out the door.
Chris Moran, IFC executive director, said that through May the distribution rate of food is 28 percent higher than last year.
“Food is a big deal right now,†Moran said. Surveys conducted among the clients showed that only half of the 1,348 food pantry members (a number which grows every month) return every month. “If everybody came back every month, we’d be out of food,†said Moran.
Contact Valarie Schwartz at 923-3746 or valariekays@mac.com