More Than Ever, Family Pantry Counts On Generosity Of Chronicle Readers
by Alan Pollock

            It’s a conversation Family Pantry Executive Director Mary Anderson has been having quite often lately.  A person will call the office and ask, uncomfortably, how to receive food assistance.  The caller has never before sought out this kind of help, but the tumbling economy has forced them to choose between putting food on the table and paying the mortgage, the rent, or the heating bill.

            “I think it’s particularly hard for people who’ve got jobs,” Anderson said.  “They’ve used to being self-sufficient, and now they can’t be.”

            Based on the anticipated heavy demand this winter, the Cape Cod Chronicle has increased the goal for its annual “Helping Neighbors” campaign to $40,000 this year.  Publisher Henry Hyora said, despite the poor economy—or actually because of it—he expects The Chronicle’s readers to be even more generous to the Family Pantry than they’ve been in previous years.  Hyora challenged other local businesses to match The Chronicle’s $500 gift to get the campaign underway.

            Anderson said she’s hopeful the campaign will meet its goal this year.  “That’d be at least two months of our food bills.  That would be a tremendous boost,” she said. 

            Just as our own grocery bills have increased, so have the Family Pantry’s food expenses.  In the first 10 months of last year, the food pantry spent $73,000 purchasing groceries for its clients.  This year, the bill has more than doubled to $158,000.  “We’re being extra-cautious, and the bill doesn’t seem to be going down,” Anderson said.

            The $36,828 raised by the Helping Neighbors campaign last year positioned the Family Pantry well for this year’s higher expenses, she said.

            “It really helped us through that first quarter, when everybody’s paying their own Christmas bills and their own heating bills, and donations tend to get a little bit light,” she said.  The Chronicle’s readers have been more and more generous each year since the annual campaign was started in 2004.

            The Family Pantry is getting an extra boost this year from the EOS Foundation, which has offered a “soft” matching grant of $15,000.

            “That means, if Chronicle readers give a dollar, it becomes two,” Anderson said.  The EOS Foundation is the private philanthropy of an anonymous husband and wife in Chatham; the foundation is managed by Andrea Silbert of Harwich.

            “We are so impressed, honestly, by how much Mary is able to do as the only full-time employee,” Silbert said.  Not only do the hundreds of volunteers put in countless hours operating the North Harwich warehouse and service center, but they do so putting the clients first, she said.  “There’s a high level of dignity and respect that the volunteers afford the clients,” Silbert said.  “Anybody can face a challenge or a crisis,” she said.  Silbert’s assistant, Kelly Merchant, has signed on as a Family Pantry volunteer, and is now a certified forklift driver, she said.

            As the bad economic news increasingly shifts from Wall Street to Main Street, donors are hearing the call to support charities like food pantries, Anderson said.  While there are worries about what happens if unemployment continues to rise and companies close their doors, “at least for the moment, we’re just seeing a lot of support,” she said.

            That’s fortunate, since the number of clients is increasing steadily.  In the first 10 months of this year, the Family Pantry served an average of 775 households per month, compared to 610 over the same time period last year.  And many of those new clients are people who, in previous years, were keeping their heads above water—and even making donations to the food pantry.  Now, they’re in the unfamiliar position of asking for help.

            “A lot of them call first because they need to know when we’re open, or what they need to bring,” Anderson said.  “You just try to be as friendly as you can, and explain to them that we have a lot of people who come here who have a difficult time coming,” she said.  It sometimes helps to let people know that there are many clients who only require assistance to get them through the hardest of times, after which they become self-sufficient again.  “We just tell them, that’s what we’re here for,” Anderson said.

            To contribute to the Family Pantry, send a tax-deductible contribution to 133 Queen Anne Rd., Harwich, MA 02645, or use the donation form on page 54. 

11/27/08