On Sunday, the Kewanee Food Pantry board put out a plea to area churches asking for help. They are now asking the community to come to their aid.
“This has never happened in the 10 years I have been here,” said Director Lisa Janie. “Our food is low. The number of clients is high.”
Janie said the food pantry is dealing with a number of issues that makes serving the community challenging, and she believes they are still feeling the economic effects brought on by the pandemic.
During the pandemic, the number of families requiring assistance from the pantry declined, as government food assistance rose. But as that funding has gone away, the number of residents needing assistance has drastically increased, she said. In fact, the number has doubled.
It’s the policy, she said, at the end of the year to delete names off the rolls of residents who haven’t sought assistance.
“I didn’t do that this year,” she said. “I wouldn’t delete them because I knew they’d be back because their food stamps were gone.”
In fact, rather than deleting names from her list, she’s adding them. Currently, the Kewanee Food Pantry provides food to 1,171 families.
And donations to the pantry have dropped off, she said. In addition to donations, the food pantry receives food items from the government among items they purchase from food banks, such as River Bend out of Davenport and Midwest Food Bank in Peoria. On her last $3,000 order to the River Bend Food Bank, she received exactly four items from the government agency, USDA, included with her order. It’s not enough, she said.
The pantry isn’t out of food, but they are low on necessities such as soups, peanut butter, canned fruit, and items like ketchup, mustard and jelly, said Sandy Hill, who sits on the pantry board. Hill said the response from the churches was good, but more help is needed.
Janie said food items are appreciated but the problem with too many food donations is lack of space to keep them. Food drives, such as the one put on by the postal workers each year, do help. This year, 3,000 lbs of food was collected from the drive. Recently, over 10,000 lbs of food was delivered by the Midwest Food Bank.
But planning for the community’s needs is challenging, Janie admits.
“It will be a test of wills,” she said. “I don’t know if we’ll have enough or if we’ll have to do another emergency order.”
Janie said the best way for people to donate is with a financial donation, and even just $10 goes a long way at the food banks, she said.
“What they can buy for $10 and what I can get for $10 is very different,” said Janie.
Anyone interested in helping to feed local families, can send a check to The Kewanee Food Pantry, P.O. Box 492, Kewanee. Cash donations can be dropped off at 924 Rose St. on Tuesdays from 10 am to 2 pm and Thursdays 3 to 6 pm.
