Food Pantry needs help

Editor: Sebastopol’s Interchurch Pantry is turning to the
community in an appeal for financial help in its mission to feed
the needy from West Sonoma County. As the economic downturn, The
Great Recession, continues, the six churches that have sustained
the Pantry for decades have all suffered a loss of income and less
money in the collection plate.
These churches are hurting at a time when more individuals are
losing jobs and more households need assistance.
The Pantry served 585 households in the first six months of
2001; this year, 10 years later, in the same six-month period, we
served more than twice that: 1,245 families.
Similarly there are also two times as many single individuals
wanting assistance with groceries. This problem did not happen
overnight; we have seen a dramatic increase in the number of
clients served over the last four years, and we now face a loss of
income from our member churches.
As a direct consequence, we have been operating at a loss of
about $1,500 a month for more than six months with shrinking
reserves.
Sadly, more clients mean Pantry volunteer shoppers must buy
greater amounts to fill the extra need, and all Food Pantries and
hot meal programs must pay for their commodities at the Redwood
Empire Food Bank. It is this cash nexus that is so difficult to
achieve in this time of high unemployment. The Food Bank in turn
feels the pressure to care for the hungry in Sonoma County in even
greater numbers.
The Little Red Hen Society awarded the Interchurch Pantry of
Sebastopol a one-time grant of $15,000 at the end of 2008 at a time
when our shelves were almost bare, but there is no miraculous grant
of money at this point. The Pantry has two traditional food drives:
The Letter Carriers/Postal Clerks project on the Saturday before
Mother’s Day and the Realtor’s Food Drive just before Thanksgiving.
Now, after only two months since Mother’s Day, Sebastopol’s Food
Pantry is in dire financial distress.
We always appreciate produce sent to us from West County gardens
and family farms, but in this summer appeal we are asking for money
to help us continue feeding the people in need in our community
until November and the well-known holiday generosity of West Sonoma
County.
Please send your check to Interchurch Food Pantry, c/o Diana
Godwin, Treasurer, P.O. Box 579, Sebastopol, CA 95473. Gifts of
food may be brought to the Pantry site at 500 Robinson Road in
Sebastopol during business hours Monday, Wednesday, Friday,
Saturday between 10 a.m. and noon.
Cecile Lusby
Sebastopol