The Eudora Food Pantry is in serious need of donations.
The pantry, housed in the basement of St. Paul United Church of Christ, serves about 100 people every Wednesday, and its backup supply is dwindling, coordinator Marsha Gordon said.
As of now, the pantry has not had to cut back on services or provide less food, but Gordon said she wants to get ahead of the problem before it gets worse.
“We haven’t cut down, okay, and we won’t unless we just have to as a last resort,” Gordon said.
The pantry needs monetary or food donations to keep its bank account from running too low, she said.
Since the start of summer, the pantry has seen an increased need again. In January, the pantry averaged about 75 people each week.
The first increase in need came during the pandemic, which is when volunteers started bringing the weekly meal sacks to people’s cars in front of the church. Individuals are able to come shop in the pantry once every other week, but sack services remain a weekly operation from 9 to noon Wednesday mornings.
“When the numbers really went up this summer, that’s when that balance of food and cash ready to buy food started getting worrisome,” Gordon said. “I don’t want to get to the point where we don’t have either one.”
Gordon attributed this partly to COVID-19 relief funding expiring and SNAP benefits going down. In February, around 20 more states stopped providing increased SNAP benefit amounts, also known as emergency allotments, according to Feeding America. This decrease in benefits came at the same time as elevated food prices due to inflation, according to Feeding America.
The food pantry usually receives donations from Just Food, but Gordon noted they are seeing less coming from them due to the need for more donations within pantries across the nation. Feeding America reported nearly two-thirds of surveyed food banks in March reported an increased demand for food assistance.
Eudora Community Navigator Laura Smith said students being out of school for the summer may have also played a role in the increase. With about one-third of students in the district on either free or reduced lunches, not being in school could cause more issues for families.
“We kind of expected it,” Smith said. “When you’re not getting fed at school, that’s probably going to happen,”
Smith has focused on getting the word out on social media as well as trying to best manage how to have permanent donation drop off locations within the city. Smith also does her best to help get those donations to the pantry, whether she picks up donations from residents’ homes or empties the drop off locations.
Smith also hopes to potentially increase the pantry’s hours to allow more people to come shop and increase people’s opportunities to get into the building.
“I’m trying to knock down any barrier that’s there,” she said. “Everyone’s kind of in the same boat and one of the main barriers is getting to the actual food pantry, or getting to the donations.”
The pantry also receives donations from the Giving Garden, which provides some fresh produce to families who visit the pantry. Partnerships with businesses like Gene’s Heartland Foods and Forge Martial Arts have also helped the pantry collect donations, as well as other churches within town, Gordon said.
The pantry does appreciate monetary donations because it receives a discount when buying in bulk from Gene’s.
Donations to the pantry also come from the Eudora United Methodist Church after its monthly drop off from Harvesters. The Methodist church also distributes Harvesters donations to families in about 16 zip codes, volunteer Tom Schmidt said.
Last month was the largest demand they have seen this year, with food being donated to about 160 families totaling about 575 people, he said.
“We get approximately between 10,500 to 12,000 pounds of food per distribution date,” Schmidt said.
Gordon said the community has always been generous with donations, and she is confident the community will help fix the issue.
“I have faith in the community of Eudora because they always stepped up absolutely always,” Gordon said.
Donations can be brought to the church on Wednesday mornings when the pantry is open or by contacting Gordon at (785) 766-1814. There are also permanent donation sites at the library, Forge Martial Arts, the community center and Main Street Scoops and Sweets. There will also be a receptacle for donations at Gene’s for about a week.
The Eudora Times is also helping with a food pantry drive this week during its Santa event Thursday night at Main Street Scoops and Sweets. Stop by from 6-8 p.m. with a cash donation for the Times, if able, and a food pantry item and then take pictures with Santa.
Reach reporter Sara Maloney at [email protected]
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