TOLEDO, Ohio (WTVG) – A local outreach organization that provides tens of thousands of meals in our community every year is in need of a helping hand. As food prices increase and some resources and donations decrease, providing that support is becoming more of a challenge.
Helping Hands of St. Louis has been providing support to those in need for decades and the nonprofit is seeing an increase in demand for all of its programs. At the same time, there’s also an increase in the need for donations.
The corner of Sixth Street and Starr Avenue in Toledo has been a place to get help for more than 40 years.
“We have onsite meals, a choice pantry, clothing center, homeless kits that we hand out at night, showers, so we have a lot of things going on here at all times,” Sue Shrewsbery, the director of Helping Hands of St. Louis, said.
The pantry helps more than 5,000 people every year, providing more than 2,000 bags of groceries, along with hundreds of snack packs and hygiene kits for the homeless.
But that’s becoming tougher to do. For starters, Shrewsbery says federal cuts have trickled down to the local level.
In March, the SeaGate Food Bank had $655,000 worth of food canceled after orders that were already approved were called off. SeaGate provides free food for the pantry to distribute, but getting certain things from the food bank is tough right now.
“We’re seeing a 50% cut from what we used to get, easily 50%. It’s a huge hit. We used to get milk, cheese, butter, we don’t get any of that anymore. For us to offer those items, we have to find someone to donate it because we don’t have funds in our budget,” Shrewsberry said.
Shrewsbery said some people who donate are having to scale back their contributions as well. All that, while the need for help from the pantry continues to spike.
“15% at least this year and 30% the year before so it’s not getting smaller, it’s growing,” Shrewsberry said.
And if things don’t improve.
“We might have to scale back. We would have less of what people can choose in the pantry, so they’ll be going home with less,” Shrewsberry said.
In addition to the pantry, Helping Hands of St. Louis serves more than 40,000 meals on site every year. Thousands of people also receive free items at the clothing center.
There are a lot of ways you can help. If you’d like to learn more or if you need help, click here.
Most food pantries are facing the same challenges, so reach out to the one in your area if you’d like to help.
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