April 6, 2018 at 1:53 p.m.
RURAL AND SUBURBAN
Unique challenges for outlying food pantries
In two sentences, Janice Hinkley, outreach coordinator at St. Mary's parish in Oneonta, summed up one dilemma for parish food pantries in outlying areas of the Albany Diocese.
Much like pantries at urban parishes, use of rural and suburban food pantries continues to rise, but you wouldn't know the severity of the challenges based on the numbers of people they manage to serve.
In Oneonta, "poverty keeps going up," said Ms. Hinkley. St. Mary's parish operates one of three food pantries in the rural city.
During the last two weeks of the month, after other food assistance runs out, clients are "usually waiting outside" the five days a week the pantry is open. St. Mary's assists an average of 210 households a month - more than four times more than when it first started the pantry eight years ago.
OTSEGO COUNTY
Volunteers use grant money from Feeding America to purchase fresh produce and bread from Walmart for St. Mary's food pantry three times a week. Clients can pick up these items as often as they'd like; for non-perishable items, they're limited to every 30 days.
The Regional Food Bank delivers surplus food once a month, and St. Mary's distributes any extras to 18 other pantries and social service organizations in Otsego County. A state grant for the pantry decreased by $5,000 last year, but a monthly parish collection averaging $2,300 keeps the pantry afloat.
"It's really supported by the parish," Ms. Hinkley said.
The food pantry expanded and changed to a client choice model in 2006, allowing guests to choose the items they needed - which nearly doubled area residents' use of the food pantry.
Community groups and colleges offer cooking demonstrations, nutrition education, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly known as food stamps) registrations and more. A sorority from SUNY Oneonta makes "birthday bags" filled with cake supplies, baking pans and color-coordinated decorations. The parish also puts together child-friendly snack bags and even makes deliveries when necessary.
"We treat everybody with dignity here, because you never know when it's going to be you," Ms. Hinkley said. "We see the face of Christ in everybody."
She said poor public transportation and a lack of well-paying jobs in Oneonta exacerbates the poverty problem.
SARATOGA COUNTY
The situation is similar in the Town of Milton: Trailer park residents often ride with each other to get to the food pantry operating out of St. Paul's Church in Rock City Falls, a mission of St. Joseph's in Greenfield Center.
St. Paul's parishioners are part of a network of volunteers from Ecumenical Community Helping Others (ECHO), which sponsors the pantry. The church posts needed items on a bulletin board and does collections.
The ECHO pantry usually sees up to 50 families regularly during the winter, and gets some use in the summer because of seasonal Saratoga track workers.
"The need is there all the time," said Anthony Zanella, a St. Paul's parishioner and food pantry chair. He says they have enough food right now, but "who knows? The way things are going..."
St. Joseph's participates in the Town of Greenfield's food pantry. "We're the muscle behind it," noted Deacon Gary Picher, parish life director.
Many parishes contribute to ecumenical community pantries housed at other sites.
FULTON COUNTY
Parishioners of St. Joseph's in Broadalbin and St. Francis of Assisi in Northville fill up reusable bags of donations for the Broadalbin Ecumenical Food Pantry and try to also supply items like toothpaste, shampoo and toilet paper.
Joan Silvernail, a St. Joseph's volunteer, said the pantry served 1,326 adults last year, many of whom are the working poor.
RENSSELAER COUNTY
In Hoosick Falls, more than 300 people are assisted each month by the Hoosick Area Church Association (HACA) pantry. Immaculate Conception parish in Hoosick Falls collects food every week and serves as a staging area for Christmas food baskets. Rev. Thomas Zelker, pastor, says more elderly and working poor families need help these days.
"It's gotten worse here," he said. "We're here to serve those people right now in their immediate need, but it would make sense for us to strive to do something about why this is happening. The Gospel says love people today as they are. Also, Jesus said [to] address the inequalities in society."
Father Zelker believes a decreased population, a poor transportation system and fuel costs put people in situations where they're struggling.
WASHINGTON COUNTY
Rising costs of all basic necessities have affected Granville, too.
"Everyone just cringes when that fuel truck rolls in," said Syndy Anoe of St. Mary's parish, the director of a food pantry operated out of the church and supported by an ecumenical council.
She says distance from bigger cities like Glens Falls and limited grocery store choices make people feel "pretty well stuck in Granville.
"We do see families come and go," she said. "A lot of them are hesitant" to use the food pantry.
There's been an increase in food pantry use in recent years, with 70 to 80 families a month now patronizing the pantry.
Ms. Anoe said the face of poverty has also "changed through the years, [and] pantries have changed with the times" by offering foods that require less preparation.
St. Mary's pantry in Granville asks parishioners for specific items or items on sale. Grants from the Regional Food Bank and the Charles R. Wood Foundation enable the pantry to provide each food group for three days.
"We have enough to buy food, and we're careful," Ms. Anoe said. "It's very much needed in our area. [There aren't] a lot of jobs and I don't see that getting any better. It makes you feel good when you can help someone."[[In-content Ad]]
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