With a modest pantry serving Interlochen and the surrounding community, the Redeemer Lutheran Church has been serving the needy for 25 years.
Reorganized in July 2005 to included expanded hours — two-hour sessions on Mondays and Thursdays — and no appointment necessary, the church is holding a food drive on Saturday, October 28, from 9 a.m. until 2 p.m. Any non-perishable items as well as cash donations will be accepted.
This effort is meant to fill the shelves in advance of the heavy-use holiday season at the pantry, which served 246 people in 64 families in September.
"We basically set up food for a family of four for a couple of days," said Denise Arlt, the chairperson of the pantry. "It's amazing to hear the stories: I've had someone hug a dozen eggs saying, 'I don't know when I last had eggs' and another family, I handed (the mother) a bag and was getting the second bag and the kids found the apples and were jumping up and down: 'Apples! Apples!'"
Redeemer Lutheran Church's pantry draws clients from Interlochen, 13 miles from Traverse City, as well as surrounding communities such as Lake Ann, Honor and even Traverse City. In addition to non-perishable items, they also offer fresh produce, bread, eggs and meat when they can. The shelves in the 400-square-foot pantry are thinly populated at the moment but Arlt hopes the drive will alleviate that problem.
"We don't refuse people from other communities but we recommend them to other pantries nearer their home," said Arlt, noting the pantry has heavier traffic during the latter half of the month when food stamps run out. "We see some people with an acute problem and others with a chronic problem."
Val Stone, community services coordinator at the Northwest Michigan Human Services and coordinator of Northwest Food Coalition, said that pantries in the region are gearing up for Thanksgiving. After that, church-based pantries prepare for the Christmas season with its food baskets and giving trees.
During this generous season, donations flow in but afterward at many pantries, it's back to Mother Hubbard's cupboard: bare shelves. Given the growing demand, month after month, this inhibits a food pantry's ability to consistently provide help.
"The numbers are really climbing in the pantries on a regular basis, all over the five counties," she said. "As the statistics come in, we see that instead of serving 400 a month they're serving 475. It's really a struggle for the pantries to keep things on the shelves."
This struggle is found in pantries small, like Redeemer Lutheran, as well as large, such as the one at Immaculate Conception Church. Founded in the early 1970s, this food pantry serves between 5,500-6,000 people a year. An average of about 500 a month or 100-plus a week who come during the pantry's Tuesday or Thursday evening hours.
Pantry officials deliberately chose evening hours to better serve the working poor.
"Our evening hours were a conscious decision so we would be available to a population who are underemployed, working and yet not being able to make ends meet," said Dannie Brzezinski, director of ministries for the Immaculate Conception Church.
The pantry helps anyone who asks and is supported by parishioners at the church as well as by members of Christ the King Church in Acme. The community also helps out during food drives, necessary aid that keeps keep the shelves stocked.
"There's a constant need and we all know as gas prices go up and the cost of heating our homes goes up, that impacts the ability of families to provide food," Brzezinski said. "We see the need rise seasonally and also during the summer, when children are out of school so families are responsible for more food on the table rather than children having hot lunches at school."