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McCook Pantry responds to drought, slow economy
McCOOK, Nebraska -- As the economy goes down, usage at the McCook Pantry goes up.
Higher food prices, increasing costs of utilities and gas, extended unemployment, weak wage growth, part-time jobs without benefits ... paychecks that just will not stretch from one payday to the next.
The continuing drought means, in America's farm belt, that farm laborers have a tougher time finding jobs.
These all impact what a family can afford to buy at the grocery store.
Recent research indicates that as the economy struggles, more people are feeling compelled to use food banks as a long-term solution to stocking their cupboards and refrigerator, rather than as a temporary fix to help them through a short-lived budget crisis.
According to Huff Post Business on Feb. 13, 2013: "For last year, the official poverty line was an annual income of $23,021 for a family of four. By total numbers, roughly 46.2 million people remained below the poverty line, unchanged from 2010. That figure was the highest in more than half a century when records were kept. The 15 percent poverty rate was basically unchanged from 1993 and was the highest since 1983."
"Oh, no doubt, it's the economy," Dorothy Henton, coordinator of McCook's Pantry, said of the increase in the number of people served at the Pantry in 2012.
The Pantry served 10,106 people in 2011; and 10,625 people in 2012. The number of families (an average of 3.2 people) increased from 3,146 in 2011 to 3,270 in 2012.
Pantry usage seemed pretty stable from 1986 (the Pantry opened in 1980, but good records began in 1986) through 2009, going from 5,218 people in 1986 to 4,517 in 1990, to 6,340 in 2006; to 5,560 in 2007; and 6,329 in 2008.
The numbers have increased each year since then: 7,109 in 2009; and 8,673 in 2010.
In 2011, the number skyrocketed to 10,106.
And in 2012, the number rose to 10,625.
Since 1986, records indicate the Pantry has helped 52,263 families, or 157,593 people.
The Pantry's records show that 409 individuals, organizations and churches donated food and money in 2012:
* 45,436 pounds of donated food items.
* 33,957 pounds of food items were purchased locally.
* 34,234 pounds of food items were purchased at the Mid-Nebraska Food Bank in Kearney. Dorothy said that the Mid-Nebraska Food Bank provides nonperishable food items "at good, good prices." Pantry volunteers can shop there once a month.
* 59,024 pounds of food items were donated to the McCook Pantry by the WalMart "Feeding America" program. "These are the fresh fruits, and breads, and baked goods we're able to provide," Dorothy said. "It's a lot of good food WalMart gives us."
Dorothy said a new program in 2012 was "Bushels of Grain," in which farmers can designate the number of bushels they wish to donate to the Pantry when they take their grain to the elevators.
For more information on the program, contact the Pantry (308) 345-4844, in St. Alban's Episcopal Church's Canterbury House Office, at 509 W. First, during the Pantry's regular hours.
"St. Alban's is so very generous," Dorothy said. "The church allows the use of its building and provides our utilities."
The Pantry is staffed entirely by volunteers. "Every penny we're given goes for food," Dorothy said.
The Pantry is open from 1 p.m. until 4 p.m., Monday through Friday