Food Pantry: Past, Present and Future
There might not be a better snapshot of how the most vulnerable in a community are doing than a look at the food pantry.
La Grange’s AMEN food pantry continues to see much higher than normal usage, as volunteers get settled into the new facility located at 851 S. Reynolds (next to Second Chance).
“At the peak of the pandemic last summer 425 families were using our services,” said AMEN treasurer Garry Schellberg. “Now we are hovering about 300 families served a month, which is still about 100 families more per month than before the pandemic.”
Families can now get food twice a month, compared to once a month before the pandemic.
Schellberg said that a lot of the visitors to the food pantry, which is open Mondays from 9 a.m. to noon, also ask about housing and utility assistance.
“We have to refer them to Combined Community Action for that,” Schellberg said.
While AMEN can’t fulfill every need, Schellberg said, the new incarnation of the food pantry – now in its seventh month on Reynolds St. – has evolved in a number of ways.
“We had the double whammy of the move and the pandemic, but we became something we didn’t envision. We’ve come through the pandemic even stronger,” Schellberg said.
Among the additions
• The new pantry went from having two freezers and one refrigerator, to four freezers and four fridges, allowing a much greater choice of fresh food for clients than ever before
• The pantry bought a used box truck to be able to pick up an even greater amount of food from the Central Texas Food bank hub on Smithville.
• The parking lot is going to be paved by the city this spring.
Pandemic Changes
• The pantry has a sparkling new waiting area that has yet to be used because of pandemic precautions.
Now every Monday, dozens of cars create a traffic jam of sorts on Reynolds St. leading up to the food bank. Volunteers direct the parking of cars. Clients are given a number as they park and five numbers at a time are called and those folks are allowed in the pantry – after being scanned for temperature and asked COVID screening questions. If they answer yes to any questions they are not allowed in, but instead given a prepackaged box of food.
Challenges
Because of all the extra clients, and the extra efforts being taken because of pandemic precautions, “there are never enough volunteers” Schellberg said. “At the old facility it took five volunteers to run it, now it takes 10. It’s been tough getting volunteers.”
Anyone interested in volunteering should just show up Monday at 8:30 a.m. and they’ll be put to work, Schellberg said.
Twelve local churches combine to provide volunteers for the pantry as well, with two churches usually paired up per week.
Additionally, the larger facility has resulted in bigger utility bills, Schellberg said, “but we have a good handle on fixed expenses. Utilities increased but not as much as I expected.”
Donations
The food pantry is always in need of donations, both of the financial and the food variety.
Monetary donations can be mailed to P.O. Box 571 La Grange.
Food donations can be dropped off Monday mornings (which is the only time the pantry is staffed, but they are planning on adding a second drop off time weekly, but have not finalized that yet).
“We always need cereal, especially kids cereals,” Schellberg said. “Oatmeal, mac and cheese, spaghetti, canned fruit soups, canned stews, eggs.”
He also said the pantry will gladly accept donations of excess produce grown from people’s gardens – or stuff people don’t sell after the farmers markets close.