Published: August 29, 2008 10:35 pm            

Need growing, resources shrinking, food banks say

Food pantry volunteers said Friday that donations of both food and cash are needed to meet a growing need by area families for food supplies.

Their message was delivered at a meeting of the Cambria County commissioners, who held their biweekly meeting at the West End Food Pantry to highlight the need for community support for the pantries.

About a dozen people from six pantries attended the meeting.

The West End pantry is located in

a small community building of

St. Paul Evangelical Lutheran Church, 1344 Virginia Ave.

Federal income statistics list 12.5 percent of Cambria’s 145,000 residents at the poverty level, President Commissioner P.J. Stevens said.

Even working class families “are falling between the cracks and need help too,” at a time when not only food but other costs are increasing, he said.

On a scale of zero to 10, with 10 the highest need, Pauline McNulty, a volunteer, said, “It’s about 7 now, and we don’t want it to be 10. It should be one or zero.”

Ann McKinney of Park Avenue Food Pantry said that 40 to 50 families are served weekly there at a time when revenue is low and need is great.

Recalling former years when government surplus food filled shelves with such items as cheese, canned meat and dry milk, McKinney said that the last monthly government shipment had only macaroni, canned grapefruit and dried cherries.

When the volunteers go to the central warehouse to pick up food at the Food For Families warehouse – a central distribution center on Franklin Street – “it’s practically empty,” a West End volunteer – whose identity was not learned – said.

And the price the pantries have to pay for bulk food “is getting more expensive. The price you pay is almost what you pay at the store,” he said.

Ken Reed of the Walnut Grove Pantry said, “We’re struggling also to get food. The Food for Families stockpile is very low.”

Several of the pantries said that a federal allocation that is channeled through United Way each fiscal year has to be spent by June, making cash scarce in July through October.

Large-scale donations of canned and boxed food can be a big help, McKinney’s brother, Tom, said. He pointed to the collections by the Boy Scouts of American as an example.

Some additional funding from the federal government may help, Joyce Rothermel of the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank reported.

She said that Congress this summer voted to increase the allocation to $250 million from $140 million for the nation.

But the government “can’t do it by itself,” Stevens said as he urged residents “to reach into your hearts, pockets and cupboards and make contributions.”

Cambria County receives a small allocation through the state Department of Agriculture for emergency food services, and the money is channeled to Catholic Social Services for distribution, Mike Gelles, chief clerk, said.

The allocation was $13,500 in 2007 and $17,000 in 2006, he said.

        

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