“We’re anticipating numbers to go up.”
Those are the words of Keith Johnson who manages the Cherry Street Baptist Church food pantry. He says as of Thursday morning, he’d already received 3 calls and a text from community members asking if they were open because it was a Thursday in anticipation of SNAP benefits running out Saturday.
WROY/WRUL News reached out to a handful of the county’s food pantries in the hopes of gauging current use and to find out what they were doing to prepare for an influx of need in November. Johnson says the numbers vary from month to month but in October, they provided food to 137 families. David Scroggins from The Roads food pantry in Norris City says they currently are serving about 300 families per month and about 800 individuals across Saline, White, and Gallatin Counties.
Kim Johnson of the White County Senior Center said they’re working ahead to prepare and plans are to be open every week on Tuesday from 9am – 1pm. Representatives from Our Savior Lutheran Church and New Beginnings Church of God haven’t gotten back to us.
Both Cherry Street and the Senior Center are accepting donations of both canned goods and shelf stable foods as well as monetary sustenance. Cherry Street is also accepting frozen meat and Keith Johnson says their food pantry runs completely off community donations. Scroggins says he doesn’t know what to expect in the month ahead; he’s got his pantry stocked right now and the church will take it as it comes.
Cherry Street Baptist Church’s food pantry is open on the first and third Thursday of each month from 9am – 11am at 210 Third Street. Our Savior’s food pantry operates the second and fourth Tuesday of each month from 9am – 11am at 1102 Jill Street. The New Beginnings food pantry is open the second and fourth Thursday of each month from 1pm – 3pm. The Roads Church in Norris City’s food pantry is open Fridays and Saturdays the first three weekends of each month from 9am – noon. The Enfield Food Pantry is open the third Saturday of each month from 8:30am – 10:30am.