Food Pantries: Communities helping in great time of need
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We think of food insecurity as something that happens somewhere else. To someone else.
Nothing could be further from the truth, we learn, as we have watched the COVID-19 pandemic wash over our already economically struggling region.
"Calhoun is a lower income family community anyway, (but) it has affected all income levels," said Calhoun County Family Resource Network Director Tina Persinger. "A lot of people are laid off or their company is shut down for a few weeks to deep clean. We think that only low income families go to food pantries, but right now people do come into food pantries. They do qualify, but they aren't used to being in that situation."
Last week, the Calhoun County FRN and Mountaineer Food Bank hosted a mobile food pantry that fed approximately 225 families in an hour. They are not alone. Organizations throughout the Mid-Ohio Valley have stepped up (as have the volunteers and donors who keep them running) in this unusual time of need. It is a bewildering time, particularly for those families for "aren't used to being in that situation."
But as always our communities rise to the occasion. Those who are able meet the need and support those who are struggling. Thank you, folks, for helping EVERYONE in need.