The Angels Community Outreach, a Pitman-based nonprofit that has helped tens of thousands of South Jersey residents with food, clothing and other aid over the past 13 years, closed its food pantry this week.
“Please help, unfortunately this is the FIRST TIME I’ve had to do this,” director Elissa Darrow posted on the group’s Facebook page. “Unfortunately, we have to CLOSE our FOOD PLOT until we can fill our shelves.”
The group has put out an appeal for food, other supplies and cash to help restock their pantry. Crowds have been picking up, and Darrow said she and her volunteers hope to be back up and running as soon as next Tuesday.
Pantry woes, however, are part of a bigger picture of tough times: higher food costs, inflation and struggling households.
“With the way prices are going up, we don’t get as many donations because people who used to be able to donate to us can’t because the little extra money they had to donate is now being spent on their own food,” he said. Darrow.
“We’ve also seen an increase in people asking for help,” he added. “And he’s not the person who doesn’t work.”
Even two-earner families are having a harder time covering rent, car payments and keeping everyone fed, she said.
Older people have often needed help to survive on fixed incomes. “Now they have to try to stretch it further because of the higher cost of food,” the director said.
Families across the region are suffering from higher food prices and higher costs of living, and the agencies that serve them are feeling the greatest need, according to Kori Rife, a spokeswoman for Food of South Jersey, which partners with 200 food pantries. not including the Angels.
“We are absolutely distributing food at pandemic levels right now,” Rife said.
In addition, the food bank’s food purchase costs have increased by 20 percent and its shipping and handling costs have doubled, he said.
“Summer is one of the hungriest times of the year because kids are out of school and not getting their free or reduced-price school meals,” Rife said, noting that the bank food is helping to provide more than 200,000 meals for people. South Jersey this summer.
For a group like the Angels, turning people away is one of the worst things imaginable.
The Pitman nonprofit was started in 2009 by Darrow’s 12-year-old daughter, Katelyn, as the Angels of God Clothing Closet. The young woman was motivated by her family’s struggles.
When Katelyn was very young, her mother, she and her sisters were forced to flee a domestic violence situation in the middle of the night with the clothes on their backs. Some time later, the family lost property in a fire, but was helped by friends and neighbors. Those experiences inspired her to help others in times of need.
After Katelyn left for college at UCLA, her mother continued her work. Katelyn now works in social media in California and volunteers at a suicide prevention and domestic violence shelter. The services of the non-profit organization that started have diversified.
Throughout the year, the Angels provide meals for families during the holidays, prom dresses, Halloween costumes, baby needs, veteran appreciation, birthday assistance and more month. During this summer’s heat wave, the non-profit organization helped buy air conditioners for families. The group is now looking for hairdressers and barbers to donate their services for a back-to-school event at the end of the summer, along with school supplies.
The Angels are also seeking donations to restock and reopen their Kibble Corner, a pet food pantry. This relief mission has been hampered by the same economic forces that resulted in empty shelves in their food pantry for the people.
“We are out of pet food at this time,” Darrow said. “It’s a shame. “People are trying to decide who eats: your kids, your pets. To me, my pets are like my children. It just puts a lot of stress on families.”
Note: South Jersey families looking for a food pantry can visit the Food Bank of South Jersey website at foodbanksj.org and search by zip code.
