Hunger pangs lead to growing pains

Photo

food bank

Photo

food bank

Photo

food bank

Photo

food bank

Photo

food bank

Photo

food bank

Photo

food bank

By JON MOFFETT

Vindicator Staff Writer

YOUNGSTOWN — Imagine serving 300 people lunch one day.

And doing it again the next day.

And again the next.

Feeding all of those people may eventually become a burden, though it is one embraced by the St. Vincent de Paul Society dining hall on Front Street.

“It puts a burden on us,” said Skip Barone, manager of the dining hall. “But we welcome the burden; we welcome the challenge. But it becomes very costly.”

“We have a crisis on our hands,” said Rebecca Martinez, director of resource development for Second Harvest Food Bank of the Mahoning Valley.

The food bank supplies food pantries, soup kitchens and homeless shelters in Mahoning, Trumbull and Columbiana counties with thousands of pounds of food.

“The people that are showing up now are the working poor. Some of them are the ones who used to be donating,” Martinez added.

The hall has seen an increase in the number of people coming for free lunches over the past few months, Barone said. The hall served more than 6,000 people in July, which was a record, Barone said. Last month, the hall served 6,961 people.

“It looks like it’s going to be increasing as the months go on,” Barone said. “Certainly getting into winter, we get more people [who] are out on the streets or for one reason or another unable to buy food.”

Martinez added that as the weather gets colder, the numbers could grow even higher.

“We have seen a great increase in the number of people coming to our member agencies like St. Vincent de Paul,” Martinez said. “With winter quickly approaching and high energy costs, we don’t anticipate a change in the numbers going down. If there is a change, unfortunately, we’ll see an increase in the number of people going to food pantries” and dining halls.

The hall provides free lunches Monday through Friday, and a breakfast Saturday mornings. The hall only recently began serving meals on Wednesdays, after a church was unable to continue the service, Barone said.

“The numbers of people [who] were without lunches was growing,” Barone said. “Some of the area churches tried to serve lunch, but they can only handle 15, 20, 30 people ... They couldn’t handle 200 to 300 people at a time.”

Barone said the increase in those needing meals can be related to the number of people who are without work in the Mahoning Valley. Barone said the increase in prices for food and utilities has forced some people to find alternatives.

“I think there are a lot more people who are unemployed,” Barone said. “Certainly times are a little tougher ... So, if they can save some money by coming in and having a free meal, they do it.”

In addition to the people who come to the hall for food, there are some who simply cannot make the trip. Barone said the hall delivered 2,400 lunches to shut-ins in August.

“We hear about them,” Barone said of the shut-ins. “Some of the people come in and say, ‘Someone lives in their apartment building and they’re handicapped,’ so we pack them a lunch, and that’s been increasing, also.”

The hall receives food and monetary donations from individuals, as well as businesses and churches, Barone said. He added area banquet centers have been “very generous” in supplying excess food to the hall, and many businesses donate bread, cakes, canned goods and other products.

Despite the donations, Barone said he still receives a majority of the food from the Second Harvest Food Bank.

In order to ease the cost of food, Barone has created a sponsorship program for area businesses. Businesses can sponsor a week of meals for the hall for $500. In return, the hall displays a large banner to thank the sponsor.

“For $500, someone can buy enough meals for the whole week,” Barone said. “We can purchase enough food, create enough meals and supply everyone for a whole week.”

Barone said the idea has been moderately successful since it was created a few months ago.

Martinez applauded Barone and the volunteers at the hall for their work within the community.

“Skip and the volunteers do a wonderful job of feeding hungry people and trying to fill the need,” Martinez said. “There would be people going hungry if not for church food pantries like St. Vincent de Paul.”

For people who are interested in helping out, Barone said donations of food or money are always welcome, and volunteer work is encouraged.

For more information, call the hall at (330) 746-4004.

jmoffett@vindy.com