Hollister
– When Community Pantry moved to a more accessible location, the
organization’s staff and volunteers were confident they’d see an
increase in the number of people served.
Hollister – When Community Pantry moved to a more accessible location, the organization’s staff and volunteers were confident they’d see an increase in the number of people served.
They just didn’t realize how big that increase would be.
Since moving to a larger building along a bus line on San Felipe Road at the beginning of February, the Hollister food bank has seen a 25 percent increase in the number of people served.
Community Pantry’s executive director, Mary Anne Hughes, said she is concerned that, because of the increase, the organization could run out of food and money by summer.
“Food is kind of flying off the shelves faster than we anticipated, which is a good thing – we’re feeding more people,” Hughes said. “But we do need to look at supplies.”
In February, the pantry served 3,313 individuals, up from 2,428 during the same month in 2006 and from 2,461 in October 2006.
Hughes said she attributes most of this to the organization’s move from its old building near the airport to more centralized quarters on San Felipe Road near several county services buildings.
“We knew when we moved and got more visibility, we’d get more people, because we knew the poverty level was higher than the number of people we (previously) got,” said Hughes.
Leigh Dietz, executive director of the Homeless Task Force of San Benito County, said she thinks the new location greatly contributed to the increase in people seeking help from Community Pantry.
“The people that needed (the food bank) either didn’t know it was there, or there’s a lot of people who have a need, but don’t have transportation,” Dietz said.
On top of the new location meaning easier accessibility, Hughes said she thinks there is a higher need this year than in previous years.
For migrant workers and others who make their living off agriculture, the record freezing temperatures in January and the exceptionally dry weather since then have meant delays starting springtime work, so they needed the food provided by the pantry for longer, Hughes said.
Hughes said she had also noticed an increase in senior citizens coming in. Many of those seniors have said the effect of increased housing and utility costs pinch their fixed budgets.
Donations to Community Pantry have increased, but not enough to keep up with the extra demand, Hughes said.
Community Pantry, like many food banks, gets the bulk of its donations around the holiday season. During the winter of 2006-2007, the organization received 85,000 pounds of food, up from 70,000 the previous year.
On average, Community Pantry goes through more than 8,000 pounds of food a week, though some weeks it has distributed as much as 20,000 pounds, said Hughes.
“We’re not going to make it as long – even though we have more food – than we normally do,” said Hughes.
She said the food bank sees a small spike in donations in early May, when the letter carriers food drive takes place, but she thinks the pantry’s cupboard could be bare by July if demand continues at this rate, with no increase in supply.
Alice Joy covers education for the Free Lance. She can be reached at 831-637-5566 ext. 336 or [email protected].
