Food Bank sees increase in use

Due to the rising cost of groceries, the Patrick County Community Food Bank has seen an increase in cliental and expects that trend to continue.

Executive Director Rhonda Pruitt said the food bank came out of 2023 in a good position.

“We are comfortable in purchasing what is needed, however it does get difficult as costs rise. We get some stuff from USDA (United States Department of Agriculture), some of the stuff is free, but the majority of the stuff we’re ending up buying,” she said.

Pruitt said the food bank primarily purchases its groceries from Food Country, Walmart, and the USDA. She estimates the organization passes out 350-400 food boxes each month, or at least 4,200 boxes a year.

“We typically do more in November and December,” she added.

Stuart Hampton, a volunteer, said the food bank customer cycle is cyclical as it “goes up and down.

“It was high during the COVID months, and then it came back down. It’s going back up again, I can only assume because of the economy and the devaluation of the dollar and things associated with that. We’re up about 15 percent per month over last year,” he said.

To get a food box, Pruitt said those who need one can show up during a distribution day and give their names and information to a volunteer.

“That signs them up,” Hampton said.

In the event of a proxy, Pruitt said a person needs to call the food bank and give their information. The proxy would then need to bring a note from the person they’re picking up for, and a volunteer would send a proxy note back for a signature.

Pruitt said the income requirements to get a food box are set through the USDA, and the guidelines are determined by the number of people in a household.

“They’re similar to those that are required by the state for food stamps. If you have food stamps, you’re automatically eligible. Otherwise, you tell your income, and we see if you meet that guideline,” she said.

For example, Pruitt said a one-person household can make $2,248 a month.  “Then it just increases as it goes. Most people are going to qualify,” she said.

Hampton said the food boxes are meant to be a supplement for a person’s diet. “It is not intended to feed them and be their only source of nutrition,” he said.

Boxes generally contain 15 to 20 cans of canned goods like apple sauce, ravioli, vegetables, peanut butter, fruit cocktails, and spaghetti sauce and 7 to 8 packages of dry goods like rice, lentils, spaghetti, macaroni and cheese, and nuts.

“That’s just in the actual box. Then we will have a separate box that contains meat and refrigerated items. We occasionally get butter and eggs, we’ll get fruit juices that we can pass out. So, there’s not really a set box that we pass out per se,” Hampton said.

Recently, Hampton said a man with the USDA Healthy Food Banks Initiative came to the food bank and remarked the contents were good.

At Thanksgiving and Christmas, Pruitt said the food bank tries to ensure there’s enough food so a person can have a holiday meal. At Thanksgiving, she said the organization typically buys turkeys to give away during distribution. Additionally, those boxes will typically have stuffing, cranberry sauce, pie filling, boxes of dried potatoes, and other holiday foods.

“And then they’ll get the same thing at Christmas as well,” Hampton said.

In addition to its Stuart, Meadows of Dan, and Ararat locations, Pruitt said someone picks up and delivers boxes to Horizons.

Boxes are also picked up and delivered to Cedar Square Apartment and Cotton Mill Apartment residents.

“We are adding those in because those are some of the people that can’t necessarily get out and come down here and pick up for themselves. We have had someone who is picking up and delivering to the residents in those two developments,” she said.

Apartment residents who want their food boxes delivered can be put on lists.

Pruitt said the food bank will get their information and make the people sign a proxy giving another person permission to pick up their boxes, but she added, “we have to have that signed proxy on file stating that they have permission to do that.”

Pruitt said there were some discussions about expanding into the Woolwine area, but nothing final. She noted there’s already a food bank of sorts in the area.

“We don’t want to step on anybody’s toes. If they need us, they reach out and if we need them, we reach out,” she said. “There are people from Woolwine that will drive over here and get some things.”

Pruitt said the food bank’s backpack program serves every school except for the elementary schools in Meadow of Dan and Woolwine.

“That’s because they opted out. They already had somebody doing theirs,” she said.

The backpack program seeks to provide enough food for a child to be able to eat over the weekend. One hundred and twenty backpacks are given out each weekend to children. Pruitt said each backpack includes two breakfast items, two lunch items, two dinner items along with two snacks and drinks.

“It’s all pop-top stuff and stuff that kids can open. Things that kids can open on their own because we realize that there are parents who do not have time to stop and make sure that everybody has something. So, we’re making sure that the children have it,” she said.