Local food pantry in dire need of donations
The Hope for Marshall County Food Pantry has been helping needy Marshall County families for over three and a half years. Typically, if a family or person is having trouble between paychecks and needs food, HFMC was the place to go.
Always willing to help anybody in need, Executive Director Gwen Wilson said if they have what the family needs, then they can have it. Even for people with dietary restrictions, or special needs.
The issue is the pantry is running dangerously low on food and donations. Wilson said summers are always hard for donations and people needing assistance. “Summer is a rough time. Everybody is strapped because of buying school clothes.” The purchase of school clothes leaves the family short on cash, and in need of assistance, but also makes it hard for people to donate because of the same reasons.
Wilson said because of the shortage, the pantry is forced to shut its doors. “We assist approximately 250 to 300 people per month,” Wilson said. “However, the amount of monthly donors is roughly less than ten.”
Unfortunately, that is not a good ratio, and makes it difficult to assist the families in need. Wilson said they are up for any idea that might help raise money for the pantry. However, she is asking for assistance from the community because past endeavors have fallen flat.
She said that social media is a good platform to announce fund raisers. Everybody is on Facebook these days, all it would take is one share per person, and it would get to a lot of people.
Wilson also noted that the donations are strictly for food. The bills for the building and utilities come out of the board members’ own funds. “We decided as a board to not use donations because that will take from the people we’re trying to help.”
Wilson said they even though they have exhausted every avenue and are closing on August 1, that does not mean there is no hope.
They are applying for several grants and hope to be back open by September 1.
Food pantries are an integral part of any community, and some people just may not be aware of the struggles the organizations face every day. For anybody who would like to donate food, money, or time, feel free to contact Gwen Wilson at (580) 677-0429.