Soup Kitchen sees Shortage of Food while Food Bank sees Increase
By: Kristin Anderson
Updated: November 13, 2012
At the Food Bank of Abilene, there's no shortage of food.
We're talking boxes on boxes of food.
"It's not real normal for us to be, to have two or three truckloads of food at this particular time of the year," said executive director Jody Houston.
But with the surplus comes the need for more help.
"Usually we have a little bit of a decrease in the number of volunteers. So that's why this year we're really in dire straights for groups or just individuals to come out and work," Jody explained.
But the same can't be said at Love and Care Ministries, where the shelves are a little bare due to preparations for remodeling. But their supply is not the same as what's at the food bank.
"Our canned goods are low just because we're seeing more families," said founder Mark Hewitt.
Serving around 900 meals a day, it's that increase in people showing up to the soup kitchen that is causing the shelves to remain close to empty.
"We are feeding more people than we've ever fed," said Mark. "And so we're able to give out more and more food, which has made our food shortage low."
And Mark says the economy is still making it harder for people.
"So now they're not getting their full salary, they're getting half of their salary. Now they need help to pay rent, need help to pay utilities and food. So I think that's a lot of it," he explained.
Whether an abundance of food or volunteers, both say they need as much help as they can get to help families in abilene during the holiday season.
You can head over to the offices of both the Love and Care Ministries and the Abilene Food Bank for more information on volunteering or donating.
We're talking boxes on boxes of food.
"It's not real normal for us to be, to have two or three truckloads of food at this particular time of the year," said executive director Jody Houston.
But with the surplus comes the need for more help.
"Usually we have a little bit of a decrease in the number of volunteers. So that's why this year we're really in dire straights for groups or just individuals to come out and work," Jody explained.
But the same can't be said at Love and Care Ministries, where the shelves are a little bare due to preparations for remodeling. But their supply is not the same as what's at the food bank.
"Our canned goods are low just because we're seeing more families," said founder Mark Hewitt.
Serving around 900 meals a day, it's that increase in people showing up to the soup kitchen that is causing the shelves to remain close to empty.
"We are feeding more people than we've ever fed," said Mark. "And so we're able to give out more and more food, which has made our food shortage low."
And Mark says the economy is still making it harder for people.
"So now they're not getting their full salary, they're getting half of their salary. Now they need help to pay rent, need help to pay utilities and food. So I think that's a lot of it," he explained.
Whether an abundance of food or volunteers, both say they need as much help as they can get to help families in abilene during the holiday season.
You can head over to the offices of both the Love and Care Ministries and the Abilene Food Bank for more information on volunteering or donating.
