Families needing assistance strains local resources
The number of families seeking assistance from Community Pantry,
a local food bank, are up one-third over December a year ago.
Families needing assistance strains local resources
The number of families seeking assistance from Community Pantry, a local food bank, are up one-third over December a year ago.
“There is a frustration and I think we all feel it sometimes,” said Mary Anne Hughes, the executive director of Community Pantry, of the ongoing struggle to keep people from hunger. “Sometimes it feels like it is never enough and I think that’s a little bit universal with our whole economy. People are not only wondering how much more they should do, but how much more they can do.”
Unemployment rates have hit 8.9 percent in San Benito County, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics., up 1.7 percent from last year.
But for Hughes, there is one thing that keeps her fighting the battle against hunger.
“To always be able to come back to the kids is what makes a difference,” she said. “I look at the children, not getting the nutrition they need to excel in school – it scares me for the future.”
In December 2008, the number of families served reached more than 1,600. More than 5,000 individuals were served.
“We just had a remarkably good holiday food drive,” Hughes said. “But it won’t last a long time. Everybody feels the pull of generosity around the holidays,” Hughes said. “It’s an emotional thing, but a lot of people don’t remember that our clients are hungry every day.”
Clients of Community Pantry receive what Hughes referred to as supplemental food bags. The bags contain a hodgepodge of canned goods and other food staples, such as rice, beans and bread. The food includes items that are donated from individuals and local stores, as well as items that Hughes purchases at a reduced rate from Second Harvest Food Bank of Santa Cruz and San Benito counties.
“We provide food on a weekly basis,” Hughes said. “Most of the time that extra bag is good enough.”
She works with other places in the county that offer emergency help, such as Fishes and Loaves, which has also been struggling to maintain supplies, according to members of the St. Benedict’s Catholic Church stewardship council.
“We’ve been supporting Fishes and Loaves all along,” Hughes said.
“Paul [Armbruster, the director of Fishes and Loaves] has been telling me that they are having a harder time and are concerned about the funding,” Hughes said.
The two planned to meet to discuss the future of Fishes and Loaves.
“If indeed Fishes and Loaves were to go away, we would still be here to fill in,” Hughes said. “But they are a wonderful group and I would love to have them still be viable.”
Hughes again stressed that Fishes and Loaves serves people in an emergency situation and is meant to be a temporary fix.
“Most of the time the extra bag [from Community Pantry] is good enough,” she said. “But if something else comes up – repairs to a car – at that point what we provide may not be enough and that becomes an emergency.”
Maj. Samuel Rodriguez of the Salvation Army said that organization also offers emergency assistance for food.
“We try to get the homeless and the needy,” Rodriguez said. “That’s who we like to serve and reach.”
Rodriguez has seen the number of families and individuals needing help go up.
“We doubled the numbers from the past,” he said of those who asked for help during the holidays. “The need is probably greater than ever before.”
Though the need continues to grow each year, Hughes and Rodriguez remained focused on their tasks.
“This is the Salvation Army,” Rodriguez said. “This is what we do. We depend on donors in the community…we rely on God.”
Rodriguez and the Salvation Army continue their struggle even after donations were stolen from their site in December. Gifts from the Share Your Holiday drive sponsored by Salinas television station KSBW went missing, and Rodriguez has filed a report with local law enforcement.
“We have been having a hard time per se, but at the end, always at the end God comes through and he provides,” he said. “He stretches out donations and the community support.”
Hughes said the coming year will be challenging.
“I’m a little bit terrified for the coming year,” she said. “I am thrilled that we are in this building and have the support we had. If we were still in the old building there is no way we could serve all the people we can serve now.”
Community Pantry staff moved into a space on San Felipe Road that has offices and a warehouse, where they now distribute food several days a week.
“I believe that there will be funding in the future for food and shelter from the government,” she said. “I have guarded optimism.”
In the meantime, while unemployment rates continue to climb and talk of the national economy remains dim, Hughes and Rodriguez are asking for the community members to come forward with support.
“The need is there and after the holidays it seems like people forget the rest of the year,” he said. “We eat every day and the needy do, too.”
To donate, volunteer or find out more:
Community Pantry
1133 San Felipe Drive, Hollister
www.communitypantry.com
637-0340
Donations of food, money and volunteer opportunities are available year-round. Tickets are also available for the Feb. 19 Winemakers’ Dinner fundraiser at San Juan Oaks. Tickets are can be purchased at Timber and Textiles, San Benito Bank or online at the Community Pantry Web site. Cocktails and silent auction begins at 6 p.m., with dinner at 7:30 p.m. and dancing until 11 p.m.
Fishes and Loaves
680 College St., Hollister
637-8669
Donations of food and money accepted at the Parish office, as well as at Mass services at St. Benedict’s each week.
Salvation Army
910 Buena Vista Road, Hollister
636-9832 or 636-5612
Donations are accepted year-round, and there are also volunteer opportunities available.
