It’s easy to tell how society is doing with food insecurity. Just ask anyone who runs a pantry.
“People are signing up for the holiday baskets,” said Julie LaFontaine of The Open Door in Gloucester. “We already had more signups for Thanksgiving than we had for the entire month last year.”
Pantries throughout the region are continuing to report increasing demand from those in need of food and supplies. This comes as the region hits its third holiday season during the COVID-19 pandemic, which now also sees the fallout from the war in Ukraine and other conflicts pushing heating and energy costs skyward as households fire up their furnaces for the cold months ahead.
“We’ve seen triple the volume since the pandemic started,” said Gianna Langis, director of development for Citizen’s Inn in Peabody and its pantry Haven from Hunger. “Prior to the pandemic, in February of 2020, we were doing 450 households a month. That number is now approximately 1,100 a month.”
At Salem Pantry, the name of the game is consistency.
“We usually see a bump toward the end of the year, partly due to the holidays — people coming out for extra supplies for the meals they’re preparing,” said Robyn Burns, executive director of the Salem Pantry. “Really, we’re just trying to continually stay consistent and reliable in what we’re doing — just making sure more and more people know where they can find us. We often see an increase through word of mouth this time of year.”
Amid the pain many households are feeling, it can be easy to lose sight of an important factor to survival: Hope.
“It’s easy, in a business like ours, to get focused on the negative aspects of an economy that’s going south, and people struggling,” LaFontaine said. “But the thing that gives us hope is the way the community steps up to make sure their neighbors don’t go without.”
Pantries are also reporting a heavy volunteer presence. When asked if Haven from Hunger needed boots on the ground, Langis said the organization is “all set with our volunteers. They’re all signed up for Thanksgiving and mostly through the holidays.”
Salem Pantry recently picked up a “Service Enterprise” certification for its use of volunteers to advance the organization and community it serves.
“We’ve got our whole team ready with all our amazing volunteers,” Burns said, “giving out turkeys, gift cards, the holiday staples alongside the regular variety we usually do.”
Pantries entered Thanksgiving week facing their own challenges and solutions. Major sourcing efforts earlier in the year has put Haven from Hunger in a strong position with turkeys — so much so that they’re reaching out to clients in Salem, according to Kate Benashski, director of client services at Haven. They had given out 673 turkeys by Friday morning, and expected to have distributed 1,100 birds by Thanksgiving.
At The Open Door, a 31% jump in demand for food and 21% jump in Thanksgiving baskets has seen the organization do more with its dollars, household by household. Dropping cranberry sauce and stuffing has put more cash into their breakfast meals, which will help feed children who would normally be fed at school, according to Lafontaine.
But the real concern comes with what happens next. After the holidays come and go, people will still need to eat.
“Long after the holiday dust settles, people who are feeling the pinch in the pocketbook when they go to the grocery store or fill up their gas tank… they’ll still feel the pinch,” LaFontaine said. “There’s a lot of focus on the holidays, and yet we have a community that cares for its own, and people are very supportive throughout the year. It’s important for us to keep the conversation going.”
Contact Dustin Luca at 978-338-2523 or DLuca@salemnews.com. Follow him at facebook.com/dustinluca or on Twitter @DustinLucaSN.
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