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Cupboards bare at Interfaith Emergency Services
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Location: Blogs Now We're Talking |
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| Posted by: Joe Byrnes |
9/12/2007 6:59 AM |
Longtime volunteer Esther Smith, 81, of Belleview, sat across from me on Tuesday morning at Interfaith Emergency Services.
I was in the chair where clients would sit when they came to ask for food, clothing, shelter or help with their bills. Smith - nicely dressed in a pink blouse and wearing gold-framed glasses - was heading a team of Interfaith volunteers, as she does one day out of every week.
"I kind of feel like, for lack of a better word, I'm called to help people as much as I can," she said.
Smith had just gotten some tough news, though, information that will make it harder for her to fulfill that mission.
Because so many more people are coming for food from the Interfaith pantry in Ocala - and because donations have declined - the volunteers were instructed to tell the clients they can come in for groceries only once every 60 days, instead of once a month.
"It makes you want to cry," she said. "It's very difficult to turn people away. ... We can't produce food out of thin air, but it makes you feel bad when it's not there."
Interfaith Executive Director Gary Linn said changes in the economy have been hard on local families. Unemployment is up, and rising costs, like the price of gas, make life a challenge for working parents with low-paying jobs. Bags of groceries from the food pantry can be the lift a family needs to make it through the month.
Over the summer, more people have turned to Interfaith for groceries. In July, 1,531 clients were supplied with food, compared to 1,092 during the previous July. That was an increase of 40 percent.
Last month, 1,622 local people received groceries, 28 percent more than in August 2006.
The clients are screened at the office by volunteers like Smith and then sent across the street to the food pantry. Before they arrive, the office faxes over a form with information on their needs. At the pantry, volunteers - like Paul Cigrand, 71, of Ocala - collect the groceries, filling a standard list based on the size of the family and whether they have a car.
Though the list includes peanut butter, a jar of jelly and a package of noodles, those weren't available Tuesday.
Linn took me on a tour of the warehouse. I found Cigrand sitting near the service counter in a room lined with bare - or nearly bare - cupboards. He opened a freezer to show me it was empty.
"We usually have fresh meat to give to families, and, as you can see, we don't have any fresh meat," he said. "So we have to give them canned meats, which are better than nothing, obviously."
Longtime contributors - including businesses like Sam's Club with its regular donations of bread and Sullivan Motors with its quarterly truckload of food to be divided among 12 charities - help a great deal, Linn said.
But he is counting on the public - once the word gets out - to fill the shelves again.
Linn was standing beside an empty warehouse bin. "As you can see," he said, "we need to replenish it. So I'm asking the community, please, to come forth and help us out at Interfaith."
Linn is confident Marion County will respond, he said. "That's one thing about this community. They always come through."
The warehouse is at 450 N.W. Second St. and is open for donations from 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. For information, you can call 622-4204.
I'm betting Gary Linn is right and Esther Smith won't have to turn people away and Paul Cigrand will be able to fill up their grocery bags.
Joe Byrnes may be reached at joe@ocala.com, ocala.com/blogs or (352) 867-4112.
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