Many of you probably saw the USDA announcement last week: There would not be food stamps issued in November of this year due to the federal government shutdown. We have been monitoring this situation closely and wanted to share some information both about what resources are available to people who might need them for the first time and also how the community can be involved with helping to provide food for people in need.
South County Community Services operates a Kalamazoo Loaves and Fishes (KLF) pantry at 606 N. Spruce St, in Vicksburg. This means that we receive a certain amount of free food from Loaves and Fishes in exchange for being a part of their pantry network and following their “shopping” model for giving out food. In the shopping model, food pantry clients each have 15 minutes to walk through the pantry and pick out what foods they would like—the goal is to provide 8 days’ worth of food per visit. People can visit up to two Loaves and Fishes pantries per month, in addition to KLF’s Mobile Food Initiatives, which are held throughout the county. Our pantry is generally open from 10 a.m. to noon Monday through Thursday, but in November, and possibly December, we will extend our hours to 1 p.m. in anticipation of extra need. We also provide some flexible scheduling for people who work during those hours. To schedule an appointment, please call 649-2901.
There are around 20 KLF pantries throughout Kalamazoo County, but we are by far the closest to most residents of South County (with the possible exception of Portage Outreach Center). Although there is a twice a month limit to KLF pantry visits, there are other options available for food outside of the KLF network too—12 Baskets and Valley Family Church are both excellent resources for our residents that give out pre-boxed food on the weekends and Scotts United Methodist gives out non-KLF food once a month. And of course, Generous Hands (also at 606 Spruce St) provides food for around 350 kids in the Vicksburg School District and operates “Blessing Boxes” throughout the service area (Portage Terrace Mobile Home Park, Lawrence Memorial Library in Climax, GH/SCCS, and soon Fulton Church), where anyone can pick up or drop off food 24/7.
In addition to the food pantries, there are also delivery options. KLF delivers food throughout the county daily, and we run a couple of different food delivery options for seniors. Eagle’s Nest (Schoolcraft) delivers KLF pantries to the families that they support as well.
How Can the Community Help?
Our food pantry provides food assistance for around 4,000 individuals per year, and we are generally running pretty close to capacity. Lately we have had some record days and only expect that demand to increase. The biggest bottleneck is food; although we are supported by KLF, we rely heavily on both local donors and Meijer to provide additional food to fill in around KLF’s more basic items. With the increase in need of our residents, we will surely require more support.
If you have food to donate, you can drop it off at our office from 9 a.m.-5 p.m., Monday-Thursday. We can take anything that is not expired and non-perishable, and many refrigerated and frozen items as long as they have been stored properly. This month, we especially need condiments, snacks, and boxed dinners. If you have kids in the Vicksburg Schools, the National Honors Society is running a food drive throughout the entire district this month and will happily take your donations and box them up for us.
This is also a good time to check in with other food nonprofits in the area. Everyone is going to be at or over capacity this month and anything you can do to help will make a big difference!
For more information on South County Community Services, please check out our Facebook at facebook.com/southcountycs or visit our website.
