Food spoiled in refrigerators and freezers without power, leading to an increase in demand from families in need.
Nazareth Area Food Bank volunteers Karen Reimer, left, of Nazareth, and Barbara Ahearn, of Bath, help keep up the quick pace of inspecting and sorting incoming donations.
Food spoiled in refrigerators and freezers without power, leading to an increase in demand from families in need.
At the Nazareth Area Food Bank, 330 families turned out this month for food, the highest the organization has seen all year.
"We had a few people who previously needed help, but stopped coming when their situations improved, come back and said say, 'We lost so much food as result of the power failure from Sandy, we need food again,'" said Jim Byrnes, director of the Nazareth Area Food Bank.
Byrnes said donors with no phone or email access due to blackouts didn’t hear about a pre-Thanksgiving food drive until the last minute. Boy Scout and Cub Scout troops collected 8,600 pounds of food this year compared with 15,000 pounds last year.
“The storm had a definite effect on communication within the organization and marshaling the scouting groups to do what they ordinarily do," Byrnes said. "The economy still isn't chugging along on all cylinders. More people are working part-time than full-time and that makes it harder to make ends meet."
He added, "We say our goal is to go out of business, but we don't think that's going to happen anytime soon, unfortunately."
Need is great
Jeannie Judd Wagner, chairwoman for the Bath Area Food Bank board of directors, said scouts collected only 2,100 pounds of food this year, down from the usual 4,000 pounds.
“That’s a ton of food we don’t have,” she said.
Wagner said her food bank, which serves 450 individuals monthly, has more families need more food recently.
“I haven’t seen this kind of growth in two years,” she said.
The Vienna United Methodist Church Food Bank in Independence Township is in "extremely dire need," said Pastor James Craig.
The food bank, which supports about 60 area families, usually receives its food from local schools. After Sandy closed schools for weeks, the pantry went empty.
“We are almost completely out,” Craig said.
The need prompted the Great Meadows Middle School Girls on Track club and Independence Township Police Department to jointly hold a “Cram the Cruiser” event. To benefit the church’s food bank, collection boxes are in the lobbies of all Great Meadows Schools until Tuesday.
Funding cuts, food givebacks
Other food banks are facing major cuts in food supplies.
Ellen Potter, who runs the Easton Area Society of St. Vincent de Paul Food Pantry with her husband, said the amount of money the state provides for food each quarter was cut by 40 percent.
The West Ward pantry supports about 200 families in the Easton area. An additional 30 people showed up for help last week.
Diane Elliott, executive director of New Bethany Ministries in Bethlehem, said one of the organization's primary suppliers pulled out last month, taking away 4,000 pounds of food, or enough for an estimated 350 to 400 families a month.
"That was about half of what we need each week," Elliott said.
Some relief could be on the way.
Ann McManus, director of the Second Harvest Food Bank, said some funding cuts are now directly paying for food.
“That money that was cut from the state for food has been redirected into chicken, pork and peanut butter,” she said.
McManus expects 1,300 cases of peanut butter from the state Department of Agriculture this month. Her organization warehouses food for about 200 member agencies and shelters in six counties.
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GIVE HELP, GET HELP
Find out more about area food banks:
Bath Area Food Bank: 610-837-1061
Easton Area Society of St. Vincent de Paul Food Pantry: 610-253-3553, ext. 50.
Nazareth Area Food Bank: 610-365-8869 or nazarethareafoodbank.org.
New Bethany Ministries Food Bank in Bethlehem: 610-691-5602 or newbethanyministries.org.
NORWESCAP Food Bank: 908-454-4322 or norwescap.org.
Second Harvest Food Bank of Lehigh Valley and Northeast Pennsylvania in Allentown: 610-434-0875 or shfblv.org.
Trinity United Methodist Church Lords Pantry in Hackettstown: 908-852-3020.
Vienna United Methodist Church Food Bank in Independence Township: 908-637-4340.
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MORE DETAILS
Food banks urge the public to check expiration dates as they cannot distribute expired items.
Food from the Bath Area Food Bank, 206 East Main Street, Bath, is available from 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. the second Tuesday of the month. There is a need for canned goods, peanut butter, mashed potato boxes, stuffing boxes, gift cards and monetary donations. Drop-off points include St. John’s Lutheran Church, Bath and Christ Church, UCC, Bath.
The Easton Area Society of St. Vincent de Paul Food Pantry, 841 Washington St., makes food available to families from 6 to 7:30 p.m. on the first and third Tuesday of the month. Since most clients rely on food stamps, which can only be used for food products, Potter said there often is a need for soaps, paper products, toiletries and laundry detergent. Also needed are pasta, Hamburger Helper boxes, stuffing mix, canned fruits and vegetables, canned tuna, baked beans and cereal and oatmeal.
Food from the Nazareth Area Food Bank is distributed on the second Tuesday and following Wednesday of every month and by appointment at the food bank, 529 S. Main St. Most needed items often include mashed potato mix, stuffing, cranberry sauce, peanut butter and jelly, baked beans, chili, and pasta sauce.
At New Bethany Ministries, 337 Wyandotte St., Bethlehem, baskets are distributed between 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. Monday to Friday. Donations are accepted 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday to Friday and 8 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. Saturday and Sunday by making an appointment. Items needed include stuffing, gravy, yams/sweet potatoes, mashed potato boxes, corn, cranberry sauce, soups, tuna, peanut butter, rice and pudding. Turkeys also are needed on Tuesday and Wednesday this week.
The NORWESCAP Food Bank, 201 N. Broad St., Phillipsburg, is open 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays and 9 a.m. to noon Fridays and Saturdays. Backed by the help of more than 900 volunteers, NORWESCAP distributes more than 2 million pounds of food annually to more than 120 pantries, shelters, soup kitchens, on-site feeding programs, child care centers, senior centers and programs for the disabled in Hunterdon, Sussex and Warren counties.
Trinity United Methodist Church Lords Pantry, 213 Main Street, Hackettstown. The Hackettstown PBA No. 369 is accepting donations until Nov. 30 at the station, 215 Stiger St., Hackettstown. Items needed include canned vegetables, pasta, canned meat, pasta sauces, instant potatoes, peanut butter, jelly, cereal, soup, stuffing mix, gravy and cranberry sauce. Turkeys also will be accepted.
Vienna United Methodist Church Food Bank, 226 Route 46, Vienna section of Independence Township. A “Cram the Cruiser” collection is being taken up by The Great Meadows Middle School Girls on Track and Independence Township Police. Items can be dropped off at Great Meadows Schools until Tuesday. Items needed include rice, cereal, fruit juice, boxed meals, beans-dried or canned, peanut butter and jelly, snack bars, applesauce, condiments, canned goods, tuna, salad dressing, toiletries, diapers and baby wipes, laundry detergent and cleaning supplies. Turkeys can be dropped off in a freezer outside the church’s parsonage.