I think about food too much.

Winter is always a time for me when the snow and cold weather keeps me at home a bit more than the rest of the months. In these extra hours at home I get to spend a bit more time organizing reports and paperwork for the Winchester Area Churches and Community Food Pantry. Normally my hours are spent trying to keep the pantry stocked with food or thinking about how to get food into the pantry. When weather keeps me at home, I welcome a break.

In the shuffling through some papers recently, I came across information from a friend in Indianapolis who did a research project on food assistance in the Indianapolis area several years ago. She discovered that 95% of food assistance to those who are in need came in the form of Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP or food stamps), Free and Reduced School meals, USDA commodities (The Emergency Food Assistance Program – TEFAP) and WIC (Women, Infant and Children’s) program. That means that 5% of food given to those in need come through food pantries and hunger relief charities. I don’t think what happens in Randolph County is much different. I was surprised at just how small a piece food pantries play in the big picture of trying to feed the hungry.

For over five years at the Winchester Area Churches and Community Food Pantry we’ve kept close statistics on who needs and uses the pantry. The pantry served and average of 261 households a month in 2011, 336 households a month in 2012, around 361 households a month in 2013, and in 2014 we served 323 families per month and this past year we served an average of 354 households. Normally around 30% of those who use the pantry receive SNAP (food stamp) benefits. The rest do not qualify because they may be over income, they’ve abused the system in the past and are not eligible, (they may have had a felony which makes them ineligible for SNAP benefits), or they’ve chosen not to depend on the government for assistance. Recent cuts in SNAP benefits from the current congress impacts statistics for Randolph County. We’ve seen an increase to around 45% in those who receive SNAP benefits use the pantry as it is the only place they have to make up the difference.

Food has been on my mind after this move to the Shalom Center and a busy year at the pantry. With the bad weather and some local school systems closed, families who appreciated and took advantage of free or reduced school lunches depend on local pantries to help with extra food for their at home children. Some of our local school systems have close to 85% of their students eligible for free or reduced school meals. I cannot help but wonder how families who depend on school breakfasts and lunches deal with hungry children at home.

It is times like these, the extra 5% help of food pantries in our communities to help those who are hungry are essential. Trying to keep the shelves stocked at the pantry means I am always thinking about food: how to stock shelves, what to order from Second Harvest, where to store the food, what to buy at retail price, and how to get more food for less money. Maybe I think too much about food. Then again….maybe not.

By Pam Ferguson, one of the 50 plus volunteers at the Winchester Area Churches and Community Food Pantry