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| RARA operates a food pantry in Lexington that serves the Rockbridge area. The organization recently expanded its hours to accommodate increased demand for assistance. (ADAM CANCRYN/The Rockbridge Report) |
Business is booming at the Rockbridge Area Relief Association Food Pantry, but that is not necessarily good news. The organization, which provides canned goods and other food for low-income families, saw a 45 percent jump in its client households over the past year.
RARA’s records show that the Food Pantry provided services to 4,850 households by the end of last year – 1,495 more families than in 2007.
Assisting all of its clients has forced the organization to purchase a lot more food. Without a significant increase in its funding, which is mainly from donations, the increased demand nearly depleted the pantry’s reserves in November. The organization seriously considered cutting costs by reducing the amount of food for the boxes provided to clients, RARA secretary/treasurer Mary Bergen said.
But a wave of year-end contributions saved the day, for the time being.
“It was like Christmas,” Bergen said of the donations. “The people of Lexington are generous with their time and their money.”
To accommodate all of its new clients, the food pantry recently decided to remain open one more day a week. Residents can now pick up their food boxes on Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays between 3 p.m. and 4 p.m. But the burden of that increased demand is putting a strain on the Food Pantry’s small operation.
“Some days we’ll have 50 households come in,” said Bergen. “We don’t have near enough room.”
Bergen is one of just three part-time employees on the staff. The rest of the agency’s staff are volunteers.
“Sixty-some volunteers keep this place going,” Bergen said, gesturing to the workers hastily stacking and carting canned goods throughout the food pantry’s North Main Street location.
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| Boxes of food are ready to be picked up from the RARA food pantry. (ADAM CANCRYN/The Rockbridge Report) |
The volunteers, who are mostly retired area residents, run the organization’s daily operations. In the mornings, they pick up food from the pantry’s main supplier, Blue Ridge Area Food Bank, and collect any additional donations. They then must organize hundreds of boxes of food and package them for pickup before the pantry opens its doors.
“The boxes don’t stay long,” said Bernie Beard, a local volunteer at the pantry. “Some are gone in a day.”
Residents are encouraged to apply for assistance each January, but often do so throughout the year.
“Many new applicants are people that lost their job or are cut back to working two to three days a week,” Bergen said of clients affected by the current economic turmoil.
While the Food Pantry can now sustain itself, Bergen said, its clients still cannot. She emphasized the need for more donations and volunteers to ensure that no family goes hungry this winter.
“People need this food,” Bergen said. “Nobody’s coming in for green beans and then selling them out on the street corner.”
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Produced by
Washington and Lee
journalism students.
Lead Supervisors:
Prof. Brian
Richardson
Prof. Indira Somani
Editing supervisor:
Prof. Lisa Tracy
Technical supervisor: Michael Todd