Pasadena Star-News (California), July 21, 2008: Cupboard is bare
By Caroline An, Staff Writer
Article Launched: 07/21/2008 11:13:36 PM PDT
BARE CUPBOARD: Jeffrey Wang, 13, of Arcadia, cleans as he and his mother Frieda volunteer at Friends In Deed in Pasadena on Friday. The food pantry’s stocks are lower than usual due to lack of food donations, the rise in food costs and an increase in the number of families served, currently 175 weekly. ( SARAH REINGEWIRTZ / STAFF)
PASADENA – With an average of 175 families to feed every week, Pat O’Reilly says it is becoming increasingly difficult to keep a suitable inventory of bread, vegetables and canned goods available.
O’Reilly, executive director of Friends In Deed in Pasadena, said she has noticed a steep drop in food and cash donations since January. The pantry is open Tuesdays and Wednesdays for families to come in and pick up items such as fruits, vegetables and milk.
Her group isn’t alone, however. Other agencies that provide food for the needy and elderly, including the Salvation Army and local Meals on Wheels programs, also are reporting dwindling donations and near-empty food pantries.
Officials say people who normally donate food and cash are themselves hurting in these economic hard times from high gasoline and grocery prices.
The result has been fewer donations and low stocks of food available for low-income families, officials said.
At the same time, needs are up. More families are signing up to receive food help, charity officials say.
O’Reilly said her organization heavily relies on donations from residents, churches and markets. Schools also help by sponsoring food drives, but those donations also fall off during the summer. The center also purchases goods from the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank to keep its shelves full.
The center usually helps an average of about 150 families a year. This year, the number number has
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swelled to 185 families, she said.
As of Monday, the center’s shelves, usually stocked with items such as stewed tomatoes, creamed corn and other canned goods, were nearly empty. Even with a local grocery store’s weekly food drop-off, O’Reilly said the staff will have to go out and purchase more items.
“Food is always needed and probably more so during the summer,” O’Reilly said. “The kids are home and not in school.”
Many families are looking for protein items, such as milk, eggs and meat, which are “expensive and essential,” she said.
Other agencies report a similarly bleak picture.
Pat Riley, director of social services at the Salvation Army on Walnut Street in Pasadena, said food donations are down between 15 percent and 20percent from last year.
The office serves 274 low-income and homeless families and individuals a month, Riley said.
That is 20 percent more than were helped two years ago, he added.
“We are hoping that things will change,” Riley said.
In other communities, food donations are down as much as 50 percent, Salvation Army officials said.
That prompted the organization last week to launch “Operation Feed Our Families” to raise funds to meet the demand for food.
At the San Gabriel-based nonprofit People for People, which helps low-income families throughout the San Gabriel Valley, director Norene Rand said food donations are down 25 percent.
She said 300 families a month come in to get food, a number that continues to grow.
Her group first began seeing a drop-off in donations in February, when gas prices started to creep up.
Even though the agency receives grocery donations three times a week, its pantry shelves are not filled, she said.
“We had 15 extra families in May and 20 new families in June,” said Rand.
caroline.an@sgvn.com
(626) 578-6300, Ext. 4494