Food Pantries Struggle:
Donations Are Down, Demand Is Up
Muskogee Phoenix (Oklahoma)
By: Keith Purtell
First published: July 21, 2008
Several of Muskogee's charitable food pantries are in a pinch. Demand is up, and in some cases, supplies are down.
The only solution may be public generosity.
Jack Murr, director of the Gospel Rescue Mission, said his predicament is typical of what others are seeing.
"Our pantry orders have increased by 27 percent," he said. "But right now, we're down to canned goods. We used to get bread from the grocery stores. But we get no bread donations."
About twice a year the mission gets a boost from two local institutions. But this year it hasn't been enough.
"We get a couple of large donors; for example when the Post Office has a canned food drive, they give us lots of canned goods," Murr said. "Bacone College has a food drive around Thanksgiving. Normally we have meat, eggs, butter, bread."
But supplies of those perishables have been exhausted. So have other products.
"For years, we gave out noodles and beans," he said. "They worked pretty good for a family that doesn't have much income or food."
Murr said solving the problem is probably only a matter of getting the word out.
"It just needs to be brought to the attention of the community, and they will take care of it," he said. "If Muskogee knows you have a need, they will respond, and there will be a food surge in donations."
Murr said he is also considering something else that might help.
"As far as financial donations to the food pantry, we had been buying some goods," he said. "I'm thinking of joining the Food Bank Program at Muskogee Cooperative Ministries."
Marie Clark with the Community Life Center food pantry at First Baptist Church is seeing some bare spots on the pantry shelf.
"Our supply is going down," she said. "The price of gas may be part of the problem; if someone lives close to one pantry, they may keep going there and drawing on that one supply instead of driving some distance away."
On one recent typical day, the center helped 54 families between 10 a.m. and noon.
"We can't keep up with the demand," Clark said. "We have had to cut back on how much we give. We usually try to give people three to five days of food, but now we're down to about three days."
Clark said she has the same budget as last year, but she is noticing that her budget is not lasting as long.
"A lot of people are asking for meat, but that's hard for me to get. We order our food from Tulsa, and it's on a first-come first-serve basis," she said. "Sometimes when the post office or school does a food drive, they call us and the other pantries, too."
There also has been a small drop in donations from the church's Sunday school classes.
Deacon Ed Falleur with Muskogee Catholic Charities said food pantries serve both a practical and a spiritual purpose.
"In feeding hungry people, we imitate Christ in his compassion for the hungry," he said. "Of course, he was addressing both their physical hunger and their spiritual hunger. We're trying to do this by example more than anything; responding to the physical needs and ultimately, the deeper need in humanity. This is why most of the food pantries are faith based."
Falleur said the charity tries to help a broad group.
"We don't have a fixed list of people," he said. "We try to spread out what we do as much as we can. The back door of the rectory has always been a last resort for a lot of people. But the staff is not there all the time, so this is to help relieve them."
Falleur said that since Vatican II in the 1960s, the church has encouraged parishes to be involved in all kinds of ministries. The Muskogee Cooperative Ministries infant supply closet is next door, and MCC provides that space to them.
"I think the bishop wants any mission to continue," he said. "We can't be faithful to God if we're not faithful to the people."
Falleur said the parish has a monthly food collection, and some people donate directly. The bulk of their food is from the Community Foodbank of Eastern Oklahoma. They're a government-approved dispenser of USDA food.
"The first time they come in for help, no ID is required," he said. "All visits after that, three forms of ID are required. I'm told these are rules set up by Homeland Security. By following those, we get more food for more people. But some rules get in the way. That's why we're running separately from the screening agency at the Baptist church."
Falleur monitors supply and demand monthly, and he saw that his demand was "going up fast." So, he started ordering from the food bank more often. He also buys groceries from discount sources like Sooner Salvage, Save-A-Lot and ALPS.
But, he has noticed another trend in the pantry that tells him there are more people with hunger problems.
"Usually the last half of the month was heaviest because people start running out of money," he said. "Now, the demand starts earlier in the month and hangs on. Plus, there is an overall increase in numbers."
As one final complication, Falleur said people who need public transportation to get to and from MCC have recently hit obstacles.
"We can't get Muskogee County Transit transfers any more," he said. "They cost 50 cents for one trip. Now, the only thing we can get is a 20-ride ticket for $10."
And the other problem is the local taxi cab service.
"For the last two months I haven't been able to get cab tickets for the elderly or disabled to get home with food," Falleur said. "Evidently, they are limiting the number of tickets. This severely limits our ability to help the people in need."
How to help
To donate to the food pantries mentioned in this article:
--Gospel Rescue Mission: 682-3489.
--First Baptist Church (Marie Clark): 683-0962.
--Muskogee Catholic Charities: 681-6115.
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