The needs of a local food pantry can vary.
With the increase in food insecurity from the federal shutdown’s effect on SNAP recipients and federal employees, the Record talked with local pantries on what their needs were.
The pantries the Record spoke with were partners of Southwest Missouri food bank Ozarks Food Harvest. There are several partner agencies in Laclede County beyond the two pantries interviewed here.
“I always recommend that everybody call the pantries, because every pantry could be different,” said Melissa Blankenship, director of Crosslines Ministry. “At that point in time they could have more of this item than they have of the other.”
Blankenship said her pantries needs changed based on the time of year and encouraged calling the pantry one wished to donate to ahead of time and asking what their needs were that month.
Right now, Blankenship said her current needs were baking items like flour and sugar that people could use to bake multiple meals’ worth of items for the holidays as well as sliced bread. She also said not to send expired food, though they can still send food in their extension dates.
Angela Fries, development director and warehouse manager for L-Life Food Pantry, said the pantry was experiencing a canned vegetable shortage. The pantry uses canned vegetables for several of its programs. Breakfast items and canned meat were also welcome.
Fries also explained that the pantry rarely received baking items such as powdered sugar or flour.
Their food pantry could use monetary donations to purchase food in bulk from Ozarks Food Harvest at a discount, Fries said. Crosslines also could use monetary donations to buy from Ozarks Food Harvest, Blankenship noted.
Fries said that while the need for food has increased, so too has community support.
