Menu
Increasing number of needy people putting pressure on Pantry resources
McCOOK, Nebraska -- The number of people using the McCook Pantry has increased, on average, about 650 each year since 2005.
And because more people are turning to the Pantry to feed themselves and their families, Pantry volunteers are feeling the pressure to stock more groceries on their shelves.
The Pantry plans its annual major food drive Saturday, Sept. 21, relying on the unselfishness and giving hearts of McCook-area residents to help them fill their shelves to ensure that no one goes hungry.
"We certainly can't operate the Pantry without the generosity of our donors," said Pantry coordinator Dorothy Henton. "Without our donors, we wouldn't be able to help all the people who turn to the Pantry," Dorothy said.
Dorothy, Pantry treasurer Fran Allacher and volunteer Janet Fletcher also said the Pantry could not operate without the 40-or-so volunteers who staff the facility every weekday (except holidays) from 1 p.m. until 4 p.m.
The Pantry is located in the Canterbury House of St. Alban's Episcopal Church, in the 500 block of West First in McCook. St. Alban's is among the Pantry's supporters, providing space and utilities at no cost.
Fran said that Pantry volunteers are witnessing more multi-generational families -- extended families living together to help meet living expenses. "Families" are therefore slightly larger than they used to be, she said.
Comparing this year's January-July numbers to last year's January-July numbers indicates a 10.9 percent increase in the number of people using the Pantry -- from 5,796 people last year to 6,427 people this year.
At an average of 918 people per month, the total at the end of this year could be 11,017.
In 2005, the Pantry served 5,500 people. In 2008, 6,329 people. In 2010, 8,673 people. In 2011, 10,106 people. And in 2012, 10,625 people.
Dorothy said that 1,124 different McCook and area families have been served by the Pantry at least one time during the last 12 months.
People using the Pantry are coming from McCook, Bartley, Beaver City, Benkelman, Cambridge, Culbertson, Curtis, Danbury, Hayes Center, Holbrook, Indianola, Lebanon, Maywood, Palisade, Stratton, Trenton, Wauneta and Wilsonville. A small number are from other cities and/or are transients.
Food items that can be donated to the Pantry include:
Canned fruit, peanut butter, soup or stew, pork and beans, vegetables such as corn, peas and beans, canned meat, dry pastas, rice, beans, cereal, flour, sugar, crackers, breakfast cereals, canned or dry milk, eggs, margarine, bread and rolls.
Monetary donations are used to purchase groceries at McCook and Wauneta groceries stores and from Mid-Nebraska Food Bank of Kearney.
To help the Pantry's major fall food drive this month, McCook Boy and Girl Scouts will hang grocery bags on McCook front doors on Friday, Sept. 20, and pick them up on Saturday morning, Sept. 21. Residents who want to donate, but miss the Scouts, can bring their donations -- non-perishable foods and/or monetary donations -- to the Pantry that Saturday, from 9 a.m. until 1 p.m.