Demand Strains Food Pantry’s Ability To Respond

By Nancy K. Crevier

FAITH Food Pantry coordinator Lee Paulsen is appalled at the dearth of goods in the cupboards at the emergency food facility, located in the basement of St John’s Episcopal Church in Sandy Hook.

Normally, the cupboards would be stuffed with donated canned and packaged foods, dry goods, and cleaning supplies, but on Tuesday, August 2, Ms Paulsen and FAITH volunteers found themselves staring at practically bare shelves, and an influx of twice the number of individuals in need of food assistance.

Every summer, FAITH Food Pantry sees a dip in donations, said Ms Paulsen, but she cannot remember any season that donations have been so low. Other longtime volunteers concur that the food pantry is in a crisis right now.

“I have volunteered here for 25 years,” said Barbara Gates, “and I have never seen our cupboards so low on goods.”

“I can tell you exactly why we are so desperate,” Ms Paulsen said. “The demand. Two weeks ago, we had 28 families with 53 people come in, just on Tuesday. That is double what we saw, even a year ago,” she said.

In May 2010, 66 families with 120 people visited the FAITH Food Pantry, according to Ms Paulsen. This May, that number was up to 76 families, with 201 people in them. June 2010, 78 families with 195 people visited FAITH Food Pantry. This June, that number went up to 88 families consisting of 231 people. A year ago July, 65 families of 126 people took advantage of the emergency food cupboard, and in July 2011, 72 families of 177 people came in. “There are a lot of people out of work in Sandy Hook and Newtown,” said Ms Paulsen.

The volunteers are extremely grateful for the generosity of local businesses, such as Andrea’s Pastry Shop on Queen Street, for donations. “Tony [Posca] is so wonderful. He gives us an awful lot of items, each Thursday,” said Ms Paulsen. The Big Y on Queen Street also donates breads and pastries regularly, and every Tuesday, FAITH Food Pantry receives 12 half-gallon containers of milk through the generosity of Sal e Pepe’s Contemporary Italian Bistro on Route 25.

“We are also receiving deliveries of wonderful, fresh produce and flowers from the Victory Garden at Fairfield Hills, twice a week,” Ms Paulsen said.

Even so, there is a great need for nonperishable food items. “What we most need, right now, is cereal — except for corn flakes, canned stews, pork and beans, and complete pancake mix, that needs only water to mix it up. We need toilet paper and we need dish soap,” she said.

What the pantry does not need is more pasta or pasta sauce at this time. Frozen foods, meat, and poultry are also not needed.

Food and dry goods donations can be dropped off Tuesdays between 10 am and noon, or Thursday evenings between 6 and 7:30 pm, at St John’s Episcopal Church on Washington Avenue in Sandy Hook.

The FAITH Food Pantry also accepts Big Y silver or gold coins, and monetary donations are always welcome. “Donations of cash allow us to purchase fresh meat and chicken, and other items we need,” said Ms Paulsen.

To donate, send a check made out to FAITH Food Pantry, c/o 119 Boggs Hill Road, Newtown CT 06411. For more information, call 203-426-5604.