Food Pantries seeing more demand

I was just reading some articles in MyCentralJersey.com when I saw a piece highlighting the effects that this current economic crisis is having on the South Brunswick food pantry. According to this article entitled, “South Brunswick food pantry traffic increases in troubled times”, the South Brunswick food pantry has seen an increase in the number of families who are seeking their help since our economy began to slow late last year. While during an average month, the food pantry would serve an average of 25 people, that number has risen to an average of 30 families per month. According to LouAnn Wolf, the township’s social services director, the pantry has seen up to 42 families who needed assistance in just one month. These families are in need of not only food and hygiene items, but in some cases, they are also in need of cash to pay for things that they cannot afford such as medications and bills. The Human Intervention Trust Fund is a fund that helps folks in need by offering assistance with paying utilities, rent and medical prescriptions

The economic crisis currently affecting our country is having a negative impact on many sectors of our society. As a result more folks are losing their jobs, and in some cases, losing their homes to foreclosures. This is making it difficult for folks who find themselves in this predicament to make ends meet. At the same time, harder economic times are making it so that fewer people are donating to the South Brunswick food pantry. Because of this increase in demand without a corresponding increase in supply, LouAnn Wolf feels that it may be a time to make some changes to how the food pantry is run.

It’s not just folks who have lost their jobs or homes who need help, the elderly, folks who have suffered injuries or who have fallen ill and victims of domestic violence also find themselves in the situation where they cannot pay for all of their bills and still afford proper food.

I can imagine the pantry will have a harder time once summer is over. Folks spend more during winter months because of heating costs and that could make it so that even more families have to turn to the South Brunswick food pantry for help.

According to the food pantry’s website, they are currently in dire need of Parmalat, coffee, tea, juice boxes, personal needs products, snack foods, soups, and all canned pastas such as ravioli and spaghetti.

In order to qualify for food pantry service, clients must provide residency and income verification. The food pantry is open on Tuesday from 12:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. and on Thursdays from 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 p.m.

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