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Pantries of plenty
Valley’s hunger-relief agencies try to stay ahead of demand
YOUNGSTOWN
Food-distribution agencies say there is a big increase in need, particularly during the holiday season, but so far they aren’t running short of supplies.
“The need and distributions of food have increased dramatically over the last five years, but so have donations and we haven’t had to ration,” said Michael Iberis, executive director of Second Harvest Food Bank of the Mahoning Valley.
Second Harvest Mahoning Valley distributes food to 153 hunger-relief organizations in Mahoning, Columbiana and Trumbull counties. The organizations include church pantries, homeless shelters and soup kitchens, shelters for battered women and after-school programs.
But while there has been no shortage of food, one pantry director noticed less variety of foods from Second Harvest and also a lack of peanut butter; but another food pantry coordinator said the Second Harvest food is sufficient to create food bags for the balanced meals it distributes.
Regarding variety, Iberis said Second Harvest can distribute only what it receives; and he attributed the shortage of peanut butter to a price increase caused by crop damage in the primary peanut-growing states.
Among the 153 hunger-relief agencies that rely on Second Harvest is God’s Warehouse, a food ministry program of New Life Church at 2250 East Western Reserve Road in Poland.
God’s Warehouse volunteers normally prepare about 600 bags for distribution on the third Saturday of every month, but in November and December, around Thanksgiving and Christmas, the number increases to about 750 bags, said Anita Oles, who with her husband, Norman, directs the program.
God’s Warehouse food distribution is from 8:30 to 11:30 a.m., but the doors of the church open at 7 a.m. to accommodate the people in line and serve breakfast.
“We don’t limit food bags to certain ZIP code areas, and thanks to a very good support from our congregation, we have never run out of food. We have never turned anybody away,” Oles said.
She said the clientele has changed from when the program started nine years ago when it was primarily indigent and unemployed persons. Now many of the people have jobs or are elderly and their paychecks and Social Security benefits aren’t sufficient.
As with God’s Warehouse, Manna, the food ministry at New Beginning Assembly of God, 3000 Market St., Youngstown, doesn’t require a certain ZIP code for people to whom they distribute food.
“We see an increase in need around Thanksgiving and Christmas. If people can’t make do during regular times, how are they going to have anything special for their children during the holidays without help,” said Pam Ruffin, Manna coordinator.
“I give kudos to Second Harvest. They do a great job of providing what we need to distribute food bags that provide balanced meals so people can stay healthy,” Ruffin said.
She said Manna distributes an average of 60 to 70 bags of food from 1 to 2 p.m. on the first and third Sundays of the month. However, she said recently 152 people came and she “had to hustle to get more bags together.”
Beulah Baptist Church at 570 Sherwood Ave. in Youngstown normally distributes food bags from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on the fourth Saturday of each month. But because that will be Christmas weekend this year, the distribution will be the third Saturday.
Beulah Baptist’s Operation Food Basket, which gets about 99 percent of its food from Second Harvest, normally distributes 150 to 200 bags of food. But the need gets greater at Thanksgiving and Christmas, said the Rev. Harold Logan, who, with his wife, Brenda, coordinates the program.
“We notice there are more and more people coming to our food distributions on a regular basis. The need is great in the Youngstown area,” the Rev. Mr. Logan.
Operation Food Basket, which has 15 to 20 volunteers from the church, is a ministry of the church and it is here to help the community, Mr. Logan said.
The increase in need is just astronomical. The new face of hunger are people who traditionally have never gone to food kitchens and food pantries.
The real spike is in children and seniors and the working poor, working part-time and minimum wage jobs, Iberis said.
The need is growing to the point where the food distribution organizations need more food, he said.
During 2011, 13,000 people a week in the tri-county area came to soup kitchens and food pantries. People just run out of resources, particularly the last week of the month, he said.
“The need is increasing at such a level that it is difficult to keep up with the increased need but we are doing our best. So far it’s been working. We have not rationed pantries, but we are urging pantries to look for additional sources of food,” Iberis said.