Food pantries fill needs

Jul. 11—Food boxes and Economic Impact "Stimulus" Payments distributed during the COVID-19 pandemic kept many families from having to rely on food pantries.

Now people in need are coming back, area food pantry officials say.

"This month we have more people coming," said Liliana Carbone, Muskogee Catholic Charities executive director. "I think the money is running out."

Carbone said the charity, which is open weekday mornings, is beginning to see more families than over the past few weeks. This comes along with a midsummer increase.

"We have some new families that have lost a job, had never come for help before during the last year," Carbone said. "Usually, when they have children at home in summer, we have more families coming for help. That is what's happening now."

Mary Juarez, director of Joseph's Storehouse, a food pantry at Adventist Community Services, said "there was a time in May when we had few people."

"Now we're back to normal," Juarez said, adding that many clients are new ones.

However, the number of clients coming to the pantry is not as big as before the COVID-19 pandemic hit and people received food boxes or stimulus checks.

"Now we'd just have six or seven, when before we'd have 15 or 20," she said.

Activity at Muskogee Community Food Pantry has been brisk over the past few weeks, but not as brisk as before the pandemic hit in spring 2020, said Cindy McAdoo, assistant pantry coordinator and secretary of the pantry board.

"The numbers for May were up 30 over March and April, the number of households," McAdoo said.

People began receiving their third round of stimulus checks in March and April, according to the Internal Revenue Service website.

"That's why March and April were kind of down," she said. "June, from what I can tell, looks like it was pretty brisk."

She said the pantry served five households one recent Wednesday and 22 or 23 on a recent Thursday. The pantry is open two extra hours on Thursday evenings.

"We're kind of expecting a larger push because the supplemental food stamps are going to go away," she said. "That was part of the COVID thing."

McAdoo explained that during the pandemic, people on food stamps received the maximum amount of benefit.

"All of a sudden, it's going to stop," she said. "I've talked to several people. Some of them know it's coming, some of them are completely blindsided by the fact they're going to have to go to the minimal amount."

McAdoo said the pantry has a good stock of food "thanks to the COVID-sponsored programs such as the CARES Act."

"Prior to COVID, a lot of our money came from small donations from the churches, from individuals," she said, adding that, during COVID "a lot of that has dried up."

Fewer people came to church during the pandemic.

"More people are returning to church, so we're seeing a slight uptick," she said.

At Catholic Charities, Carbone said most smaller food donations come from St. Joseph Catholic Church.

"We don't have many donations outside the church, and I would like to have more, because I don't want to always count only on one church," she said. "We help everybody, no matter what religion or race or anything like that."

Carbone said the National Association of Letter Carriers did not have its annual food collection drive this year.

"That is one big one we have outside of the church," she said.

Juarez said she anticipates a coming grant could help with the food supply. She said smaller donations come mostly from the churches, which have been faithful.

"The biggest need now is a commercial refrigerator," she said. "But I know it's in God's hands."

If you need help

—Joseph's Storehouse, 615 S. Main St., 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Mondays, (918) 577-6288.

—Muskogee Catholic Charities, 1220 W. Broadway, 9 a.m. to noon, Mondays through Fridays.

—Muskogee Community Food Pantry, 601 E. Broadway, 1-3 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays; 4-6 p.m. Thursdays.

You can help

—Make checks to Muskogee Community Food Pantry, P.O. Box 1623, Muskogee, OK, 74402.

—Muskogee Catholic Charities, (918) 681-6115.

—Joseph's Storehouse — Bring nonperishable food items between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. Mondays or make checks out to Joseph's Storehouse, 615 S. Main St., Muskogee, OK, 74401.