June 29, 2023 - Six Months at St Joseph's Food Pantry

June 29, 2023: Households Served – 140; Total People Served – 510

• 128 households participated in the Healthy Pantry Initiative at St. Joseph’s by selecting items from a wide range of fresh produce including broccoli, collards, squash, kale, mandarins, and bananas. Marianne and Justin assisted guests filling and carrying bags to cars for incapacitated family members and neighbors without transportation. 

• Food carried to qualifying households by friends or family members is not included in the Healthy Pantry Totals because these households are not on-site to personally participate in the selection of healthy foods for their boxes, nor do they have access to tasting samples.

• Barbara and Danzi welcomed guests to the sharing table where donated clothes and shoes for men, women, and children, as well as household items, were displayed.

• Diapers and wipes donated by supporters were available for children and adults in need of that service.

• Maureen and Lubna invited guests to choose a dessert from the table of pastries donated by local bakeries.

• Joanna offered guests tasting samples of beet salad accompanied by a recipe and some beets. 

This week rather than sharing individual stories, I will present a six-month summary profile of our Thursday guests at St. Joseph’s Food Pantry. It has been a busy six months where volunteers met with 3,321 recipients picking up 12,598 boxes of food accompanied by other necessities including diapers, clothing, household items, toiletries, and cleaning supplies, for men, women and children residing in low-income households in our community. 

Guests at St. Joseph’s in Burgaw represent the diversity of our community with approximately equal participation by ethnicity from our Black/African American, Hispanic/Latino, and White/Anglo population. A more precise summary by ethnicity and age will be forthcoming at the closing of the fiscal year. All participating households are preregistered and screened for eligibility for The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP). This federal program, which is one of the major contributors to St. Joseph’s Food Pantry, helps supplement the diets of low-income people by providing them with emergency food assistance at no cost. 

Yet as we examine summary data, there are certain profiles that emerge revealing the pockets of poverty that exist in the shadowy corners of our community:

• Senior citizens who struggle with small Social Security checks earned from years in low-income employment. 

• Farm workers, contracted on a part-time basis at low hourly wages without benefits, who cannot support families when debilitating injuries, illness, or inclement weather keeps them at home.

• Construction workers, contracted with sporadic hourly wages, who are left with no resources to support their families when they are ill or injured. 

• Low-income housecleaners, working without benefits, in homes, educational institutions, and businesses.

• Part-time employees in fast-food restaurants. 

• Health-care workers caring for infirm, handicapped, and senior community members in private homes or centers. 

• Contracted part-time factory workers who begin work before dawn in poultry processing plants or hog industries located outside the western perimeters of Pender County. 

• Spouses and parents caring for incapacitated partners or handicapped children/grandchildren who may have matured into adults but remain dependent. 

Volunteers at the pantry make every effort to welcome and value each person who comes for food assistance and to respond compassionately to individual needs.

"Don't neglect to show hospitality, for by doing this some have welcomed angels as guests without knowing it." (Hebrews 13:2)