Pascagoula food pantries working to fight food insecurity
The Salvation Army has seen a 40% increase in guests.
PASCAGOULA, Miss. (WLOX) - Food insecurity is becoming an issue for more than just homeless people, Pascagoula food pantries said.
“Individuals and families who never needed assistance from a food pantry before, who are now needing that. Just with our economic climate, that’s kind of the way things are heading,” Lieutenant Carla Lawson says.
The Salvation Army Food Pantry serves those in need through appointment only, but they’ve seen a 40% increase in guests.
“What happens is, by the end of the month, we’re running low. Our pantry shelves are getting pretty bare. It’s not because we’re getting reoccurring individuals or families, it’s because new people are coming in,” Lawson says.
In November, Our Daily Bread soup kitchen, which was serving as many as 190 people a day, had to close its doors.
As a result, the Church on the Rock food pantry has also seen an influx of guests.
“It was a shock. They knew it was going to close down, but it was that hope that there would be somewhere else they could immediately go to.” Theresa Bennett explains. “But them coming here, they just said there’s not any place to get anything to eat, or we got to go too far across town because they are mostly walking. It’s been tragic.”
Bennett is the office administrator for Church on the Rock in Pascagoula. She said the church provides protein-rich food to whoever shows up hungry during business hours.
“The people that come here, most of the time, that are asking and needing food, they come here with tears in their eyes. They said ‘I’ve never had to do this before,’” Bennett adds.
“People are working hard and just having trouble making ends meet. And they are choosing, ‘Do I leave my lights on, or do I get groceries?’ ‘Do I feed my family, or do I pay my water bill?’” Lawson said.
Many of the needy going to both food pantries were relying on meals at Our Daily Bread, before its doors were closed.
Jackson County is working with Our Daily Bread for a temporary location for the soup kitchen at the fairgrounds, and those plans could be finalized in the next couple of months.
Click here to subscribe to WLOX News on YouTube: Keep up with South Mississippi news, sports, and local events on our YouTube channel!
Copyright 2024 WLOX. All rights reserved.
