The state reports that food stamp demand is up 18 percent compared to this time last year.
The New Hampshire Food Bank says due to changes in the marketplace, it’s harder and harder to secure donations.
All that plus a struggling economy and advocates for the hungry say the need for food is only going up.
New Hampshire Public Radio’s Dan Gorenstein reports that one church has tried to put a dent in the problem.
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It’s a wet, cold Saturday morning at the Bethany Church in Greenland.
It’s the final day of the church’s ambitious food drive.
Bethany had set out to raise enough money- just from the congregation- to purchase 50 tons of food....enough to fill 5, 53 ft. tractor trailers.
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Right now, members have formed a human chain and are passing boxes of macaroni and cheese, rice, and tuna out of these trailers into people’s waiting cars.
In all, the church will deliver one ton of food each to 50 different food pantries in the Seacoast region.
Peter Hopkinson says when church leaders first told him about the plan to buy all this food he didn’t think it was possible.
TAPE: I thought 50 tons of food, that’s 100 thousand pounds, it’s $200,000....this has blown me away....this is a concrete example of answered prayer.
The congregation ended up raising $65 thousand more than they set out to.
Member Mike Lesters says the drive was so successful, in part, because church leaders inspired people to sacrifice.
Something he admits that isn’t always easy for him.
TAPE: it goes against my nature. I rather spend it on myself. I think of all the things I want and supposedly need. Me and my wife talked about it like ‘how much are we going to give? Are we really going to give that much?’ it made a difference in our finances but more importantly, it made a difference making a contribution and knowing in my heart it wasn’t easy.
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So instead of spending their money on Red Sox tickets or a new tv, the family gave the church $500 for the food drive.
And also made New Market Community food pantry director Glenda Michaelchuck very happy.
TAPE: I love it. really I love it. I have been waiting two months for this. I can’t thank them enough.
The one-ton donation couldn’t come at a better time.
The New Hampshire Food Bank, which helps get food to pantries like this one across the state, says requests are up 42%.
On top of that, operations manager Michelle Gerrin says the organization is struggling to meet the need.
She says food producers don’t stock the Food Bank like they used to.
TAPE: I’ve been in food banking for 17 years now, and I have seen an amazing decrease over the past two years, from corporation donations. And it’s all b/c of the bottom line. Years past there was always food in the system to be donated.
Gerrin says there are about 352 agencies that receive food donations from the New Hampshire food bank, half of those are food pantries.
The Bethany Church donation will allow the Food Bank to shift resources around, at least temporarily.
Gerrin estimates many pantries will run through the one ton contribution in seven days.
People at Bethany seem to put this project in perspective.
They know this is probably the single largest food drive in the state’s history.
They also appreciate the fleeting nature of the gift.
Sfx: Bruce, hey we’re done, can we pray over this?
The three trailers that once held 30 tons worth of the 50 tons of food stand empty.
Pastor Bruce Boria meets the remaining 20 members before they make the final deliveries.
TAPE: just continue to pray lord for the far reaching implications of this act of kindness. Many families who are struggling, perhaps this will bring a sense of hope for them.
Congregation member Katherine Minan knows all about the hope someone feels getting food.
She remembers as a child someone would anonymously drop off food boxes at her mom’s mobile home.
TAPE: I remember specifically opening the door one day, I was probably 7 or 8. And I remember not saying anything, I just saw the box and I turned around, and my mother was there. And we grabbed each other. And we feel down on our knees and jus hugged and cried. b/c we knew the potential of this box.
Minan says the thing about getting those boxes, was that there wasn’t anyone to thank.
So, she says, she tries to say thank you in how she lives.
For NHPR News, I’m DG.
