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Wednesday, 26 September 2007 |
By KAY LOUTH
Staff Writer
ST. MARYS — People going hungry.
They could be a neighbor, a co-worker or a person sitting in a local church. In this and neighboring communities, people are going without food or choosing between food and medicine.
It is a quiet crisis that often goes unnoticed by most people. However Director of Agape Ministries Kathy Bayless said she knows it is very real. Tuesday night she spoke to the Kiwanis Club and filled members in on what’s going on with the pantry.
Bayless said the pantry fed 644 individuals in August, 300 of those were children. The numbers just keep growing.
“The numbers are going out of sight,” she said. “We just don’t have the income to sustain the numbers with food. Today (Tuesday) we fed 70 people. That’s a lot of people.”
Each month Agape provides 55 to 75 food boxes for senior citizens. Bayless said 10 percent of the senior citizens can’t make ends meet.
In addition to the food boxes, Agape now has the Choice Pantry where families can choose what they want for their family. Bayless said the Choice Pantry is a better way to serve families.
“We would like to think we’re putting dignity back in the hearts,” she said. “It takes a lot of guts (to ask for help).”
Bayless said the people being served are working people and often dual income families, but the parents are holding down minimum wage jobs and just can keep up.
Last year 83 percent of the people Agape served were employed. This year it’s 86 percent.
“They are families that are ships passing in the night,” she said.
Then there are utility bills to pay. One family she knows of went a week without heat after the power was shut off. The temperature in the house was 45 degrees that week.
Jobs and Family Services requires Agape to pay its portion before kicking in dollars to help with utility bills.
The city of St. Marys doesn’t have any entity overseeing them and Bayless said the city “can allow it to go cold and dark in a house.”
When Agape opened its doors, the organization served a small number families and the annual food drives by the Boy Scouts and the post office were enough to get the pantry through the year.
However with the number of people requiring aid rising, those two food drives are no longer enough.
Agape gets assistance from the West Ohio Food Bank, which is taking a hit because the food bank faces its own financial crisis.
The food bank doesn’t have enough money to pay freight costs for donated food.
“Our shelves are bare,” Bayless said. We’ve cut back on the number of items people can take. This is critical. It’s going to affect families in Auglaize County.”
Agape always welcomes food items, including non-perishables, fresh fruit and vegetables and frozen meat. Meat has to have a USDA seal.
The group also accepts cash, but Bayless said it doesn’t go as far as it used too since Agape is now forced to buy food at retail. All the local grocery stores help and are now giving Agape fresh bread to distribute in addition to other donated food.
Kiwanians are stepping up to the plate to help fill the overwhelming need Bayless described. From 9 a.m. to noon On Oct. 7, at the Presbyterian Church on Greenville Road, Kiwanians are holding a food drive as a part of “Make a Difference Day.” The most pressing food items needed are crackers, canned meat, macaroni and cheese and JELL-O.
Agape is also holding a Kids Helping Kids event and are looking for new or gently used coats, hats, gloves and socks.
“There are kids waiting on the bus that don’t have warm coats or socks,” she said “You’re buying new ones every week.”
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Last Updated ( Friday, 28 September 2007 )
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