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Salem food pantry exceeds expectations
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Pat Mosley, vice president of the Salem Community Pantry, stocks shelves at the facility on 794 E. Third St. The pantry serves about 150 families a week.
By D.A. WILKINSON
SALEM
The Rev. Alan Smearsoll, pastor of Emmanuel Lutheran Church and president of the Salem Community Pantry, is pleased.
“Things are going great,” he said of the food pantry that started in January. “It’s beyond my expectations.”
That’s good news for those in need.
The churches that are members of the pantry are Believers Christian Fellowship, Emmanuel Lutheran, First Baptist, First Christian, First Friends, First Presbyterian, First United Methodist and St. Paul Catholic. The Salvation Army and the Salem Area for Children Organization also are members.
For years, the churches operated food pantries on various days but finally agreed to consolidate their programs. The program has “been overwhelmed” with community support, he added.
The program has received its nonprofit status, according to Pat Mosley, vice president of the pantry.
Mosley said she saw a trend with pantry requests’ being lower in the first half of each month and then increase in the second halves. She attributed the increase at the end of the month to people’s running out of benefits.
The pantry serves about 150 families, or about 400 people, a week.
The panty, located at 794 E. Third St., is open from 9 to 11:30 a.m. Mondays and Fridays and from 5 to 7 p.m. Tuesdays.
Carrie Burgess, social-services supervisor for the Columbiana County Department of Job & Family Services, said it refers people who lack federal benefits to the various pantries in the county.
She said staffers at DJ & FS raise money on their own to help those who have run out of benefits.
For a person, “The funds would be for three days or so,” she said. “It’s not enough to last.”