PENNSAUKEN —
An economic downturn has caused a decrease in donations to some food banks, pantries and soup kitchens while the need for those services has increased.
The crisis has forced food banks to tap into every resource, and pantries and kitchens to turn away people. The governor has stepped in to help alleviate the shortages.
On Thursday, Gov. Jon S. Corzine announced the early distribution of nearly $1 million to New Jersey's six emergency food distribution centers. The funding is part of the Governor's Hunger Initiative and was originally scheduled for distribution later this month. The amount was also increased from $770,000 to $987,500. The Food Bank of South Jersey in Pennsauken will receive $144,742.
"We're still receiving the level of donations projected this year," said Val Traore, executive director of the Food Bank of South Jersey. "But we didn't project the increase in need. Where our feeding programs used to get food once a week, they are now two or three times a week. It's depleting us down to almost a two-month supply for the rest of the year. As a result of that, we're in a food crisis."
The food bank provides food for 200 food pantries throughout South Jersey and has seen a 41 percent increase in the number of times people are going to the pantries for food.
"We're very concerned that we're not going to have enough food to last to the holiday season," Traore said. "We have reached out to the food industry and asked them to (increase) donations. The increase in need has accelerated our inventory to the point where it's at historical lows for us."
Wegmans grocery stores and Kraft Foods have donated 40,000 and 30,000 pounds of food respectively.
"With just those two, we're able to replace 70,000 pounds -- a good three-month supply for us," Traore said. "We don't know how long that will last. With the unpredictable need of our feeding programs, it could be three months, two or just one."
Pantries across the state have run out of food and have been forced to turn people away.
The food pantry at the St. Vincent de Paul Society at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church in Berlin Borough opens its doors on the eighth of every month, but on Wednesday they were wiped clean.
"We had to lock our doors at 2:30 p.m.; all our food was depleted," said Dennis Chang, director of combined services at the church. "We had served 63 families. We still have the rest of the month to go. Actually, we made a run down to the food bank yesterday (and) only came back with bread. There was nothing else there."
The food pantry serves eastern Camden County, including Winslow, Waterford and Chesilhurst, and was fortunate to receive a Girl Scout donation and cases of soup from parishioners.
"We're on the front line," Chang said. "On average we serve more than 200 families or about 600 people monthly. Last month we had 310 families; that would be about close to 800 people."
About 27 percent of the clients using pantries associated with the Food Bank of South Jersey are new users, said Traore.
"They were the primary breadwinners, but they became disabled or lost their jobs," she said. "There are no jobs for them. After liquidating what they can, they can't meet bills and they're turning to food pantries."
The type of people needing such programs has also changed as the economic situation affects middle-class Americans.
"We're seeing a lot of the working poor where mom and dad are working," said Debbie Realey, director of Touch New Jersey, a food pantry in Mount Ephraim. "After the bills are paid there's no money left for food."
"There have been a lot of people in suits and ties," said Stephanie Manbeck, a volunteer with the Pitman Pantry that is run out of the Pitman United Methodist Church. "A different type of people are coming in. We served 700 people last month, which is a big increase from the month before that was about 400 people."
No organization is exempt from the effects of the struggling economy.
"We receive more phone calls now," said Sylvia Hirsch, a caseworker with the Spanish American Social Cultural Association in Willingboro, which provides a food pantry in Burlington County. "We used to hear from people maybe once a month, but now it's once or twice a week."
To cope with the decrease in donations and increase in people receiving services, food pantries and kitchens are reaching out to all possible resources.
"We're giving away smaller amounts, but not turning people away," Manbeck said. "Trying to outreach to churches in town to put bulletins up so people will bring food in. We're hurting for fresh bread. Businesses are suffering and not donating as much. We're using any contact people might know like grocery stores if they have anything they might be throwing away. If we don't have it, we don't have it."
Reach Kristy Davies at (856) 486-2917 or krdavies@camden.gannett.com