Every Saturday, God and People’s Pantry is open, come rain or shine. Volunteers arrive early in the morning to make sure the shelves are stocked and everything is ready for the families that come through. Usually, they see anywhere from 20 to 40 clients either families or individual households.
This last Friday, the food pantry had 73, which came to around 200 people total, according to President Richard Covington. Afterwards, its shelves were mostly empty, with the next shipment not set to come in until Nov. 7.
“It is normally busy, but in my opinion, the loss of SNAP benefits contributed as well,” Covington said.
With the government shutdown continuing, funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) will be suspended as of Nov. 1. This means nearly 700,000 Oklahomans will lose access to food assistance, according to a press release from the Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma.
The organization has said it and its network of 1,300 partners across central and western Oklahoma are ready to help those impacted, working to source as much food as possible in preparation.
“As the shutdown begins to impact our neighbors through a potential delay of SNAP benefits, along with federal workers who have missed paychecks, we have been working diligently to provide food resources across our network and support our partners wherever possible,” said Stacy Dykstra, CEO of the Regional Food Bank. “Now more than ever, we must come together to support our communities and ensure that no one goes without food.” For God and People’s Pantry, the struggle has been going on even before the shutdown, due to rising expenses. The food pantry, which is run by several churches in Chandler, gets food twice a month from the Regional Food Bank, typically paying around $1,300 for 3,300 pounds. It operates solely on donations, receiving no funding from the federal or state government. While the pantry also receives food through the USDA, which is free, Covington said it sends very little “They have actually been sending less because they have less available to send, so therefore we get less that’s divided up, I’m sure, across the state,” he said, adding that they’re not complaining, but funds are tight. “We’re not the only ones, but all nonprofits are always looking for donors and donations.” Covington said that some of the churches involved have committed to increasing donations so that the pantry can order more food. It also receives regular donations of food products from both Hiland Dairy and Walmart. During deer season, the pantry has deer meat available, which is donated by Parkland Processing. However, the pantry is always open to accepting donations, whether monetary or food.
School groups are also stepping up to help fill in the gap. The FCCLA chapters at both Stroud and Chandler High Schools are participating in Lasagna Love, a nationwide movement to get hot meals into homes that need them.
People can log onto the website and request a meal for free. They will then be matched with a volunteer chef (or group of chefs) near them, who will make the lasagna according to their preferences and deliver it to their home, said Stroud FCCLA president Isla Arballo.
Teacher Dulayna Murray said her students have been wanting to be involved with the project for a couple years, but didn’t have time. While they are still busy, they decided to jump in. So far, Stroud has made and delivered one lasagna, but is hoping for more to come. They will make and deliver food within a 10-mile radius of the high school.
Arballo said she wanted to take part in the program because there are a lot of kids in the area whose parents work and might not have time to cook food every night.
“I feel like just being able to have a home-cooked meal, even if it is brought to you, it’s just so helpful, and it’s a very good way to like reach out into the community and just offer a helping hand,” she said.
Chandler FCCLA Director Cynthia Snider said her chapter is still waiting for its assignment, but will be taking part in the project soon -- hopefully for the month of November.
“Well, I mean, obviously, with the shutdown, it’s important to try to help people that need it…we talked about it, and then, when all this stuff came down, I told the chapter that I think we need to do it in November,” she said. They will make and deliver lasagna to anyone living within a five-mile radius. Snider added that the chapter also plans to donate essential items to other non-profits in the area in the near future.
Anyone interested in signing up to receive or make food with Lasagna Love can sign up on the website at www.lasagnalove.org.
Other food pantries in the area are: The Stroud Food Pantry in Stroud, Straight Street Ministries in Chandler, Acts of Love in Wellston and the Mammoth Baptist Church Food Pantry in Meeker.