by OldGuy » 17 Dec 2024, 01:48
Our community has had several long time food pantries in various locations. I have been fortunate enough to have never needed them but I have donated items several times.
Our region was hit very hard by Hurricane Helene back in September. All electric, water, gas, cell phone and even internet service was completely wiped out. With no electric, there was also no refrigeration and even ATM machines were wiped out so there was no way to get extra cash. Any store that was able to open could only accept cash because the credit systems were out due to no electricity there either.
The outages were nearly at 100% of the region for nearly a week and some areas are still out even coning up to 3 months later.
Extra emergency food pantries popped up everywhere because almost everyone needed the extras that were not available anywhere else. There were not many that did not need them for the first month or so.
It almost got funny for awhile. As stores gradually reopened, emergency food stations that were in their parking lots were still handing out freebies. If you opened your trunk to load in purchases, someone in the food pantry service would just toss in a case or two of bottled water even if you didn't ask for it. I have about 25 gallons of bottled water still sitting here at home even now.
I have a friend who has been working at a place that volunteered to host a food pantry at their business. They were crowded every day for the first few weeks but he said that the number of people coming for supplies has slowed down. They still have mountains of food, water and other supplies to get out of their way. Even worse, FEMA trucks are still coming almost daily with more supplies.
They took a lot of supplies by trucks to Salvation Army and Goodwill but even those places began to refuse deliveries because they just have too much inventory already on hand and almost no one is still coming for supplies.
Most of the emergency food pantries are now trying their best to distribute the leftovers to pantries that are in it full time but most of them are still stacked to the ceilings with no place to put it all. The food pantries that remain open are very busy with those in need even without the hurricane problem.
So yes, almost everyone who lives in this region has used the food pantries for emergencies but for most of the temporary outlets, no one is visiting them even though they are begging people to please take some just to get it out of their way. Stores are now open and most just go there for supplies.
Our community has had several long time food pantries in various locations. I have been fortunate enough to have never needed them but I have donated items several times.
Our region was hit very hard by Hurricane Helene back in September. All electric, water, gas, cell phone and even internet service was completely wiped out. With no electric, there was also no refrigeration and even ATM machines were wiped out so there was no way to get extra cash. Any store that was able to open could only accept cash because the credit systems were out due to no electricity there either.
The outages were nearly at 100% of the region for nearly a week and some areas are still out even coning up to 3 months later.
Extra emergency food pantries popped up everywhere because almost everyone needed the extras that were not available anywhere else. There were not many that did not need them for the first month or so.
It almost got funny for awhile. As stores gradually reopened, emergency food stations that were in their parking lots were still handing out freebies. If you opened your trunk to load in purchases, someone in the food pantry service would just toss in a case or two of bottled water even if you didn't ask for it. I have about 25 gallons of bottled water still sitting here at home even now.
I have a friend who has been working at a place that volunteered to host a food pantry at their business. They were crowded every day for the first few weeks but he said that the number of people coming for supplies has slowed down. They still have mountains of food, water and other supplies to get out of their way. Even worse, FEMA trucks are still coming almost daily with more supplies.
They took a lot of supplies by trucks to Salvation Army and Goodwill but even those places began to refuse deliveries because they just have too much inventory already on hand and almost no one is still coming for supplies.
Most of the emergency food pantries are now trying their best to distribute the leftovers to pantries that are in it full time but most of them are still stacked to the ceilings with no place to put it all. The food pantries that remain open are very busy with those in need even without the hurricane problem.
So yes, almost everyone who lives in this region has used the food pantries for emergencies but for most of the temporary outlets, no one is visiting them even though they are begging people to please take some just to get it out of their way. Stores are now open and most just go there for supplies.
