“I know the sky isn’t really falling, but sometimes it feels like it is,” one of our guests said this week.
At Patchwork, we’ve felt a recent increase in our guests’ anxiety levels. People aren’t feeling well, both physically and mentally. John has noticed this in a subtle way through an increase in our guests’ requests for daily vitamins—as if they’re hoping a little boost of vitamins C or D will help kick their current malaise.
The potential cutoff in SNAP benefits is among people’s concerns. They’re worried about what will happen. How long they may have to go without. How they’ll make up the difference in their personal finances.
At Patchwork, we’re preparing for increased usage of our food pantry. Patchwork’s pantry is open four days a week, and we offer a standard mix of food to everyone who gets a food order from us. This mix includes essential items that make up several days’ worth of breakfasts, lunches, and dinners.
We’re also preparing to help people who need even more food assistance than our pantry can provide. In the coming weeks, we’ll be prepared with information about other organizations and opportunities to help everyone make sure they and their families are fed.
I’ve also been around Patchwork for long enough now to know that a cutoff in SNAP benefits may impact us in unexpected ways. Only time will tell what these additional impacts will be. One potential example is an increase in need for pet food as people use more of their regular income to purchase food for the humans in their households, leaving less to feed their beloved pets.
As we’re preparing to purchase more food for our pantry, we’re also seeing the cost of our coffee service increase as food prices increase. A cup of coffee or lemonade continues to provide a moment of comfort and warmth for the guests who visit us every morning. Lately, we’ve seen some incredibly busy mornings, including a record 16 pots of coffee and 7 pitchers of lemonade served last Thursday.
If you’re looking for ways to help, here are a few:
- Make a financial contribution to Patchwork Central to help us purchase additional food and operate our food pantry.
- Make a financial contribution to the Evansville Emergency Food Pantry Consortium, who helps to purchase food for our pantry, and to the Tri-State Food Bank, who provides low-cost food to soup kitchens and food pantries (including ours) in the area.
- Contribute financially toward Patchwork’s dog and cat food fund or donate bags of dog and cat food to our pantry.
- Contribute financially toward Patchwork’s morning coffee and lemonade service, or donate items such as coffee, lemonade mix, 8 oz or 10 oz disposable cups, creamer, sugar, or coffee stirrers.
- Donate food items to our food pantry. The following items are included in every food order we give out and are always needed. All donations must be nonperishable and commercially produced:
- Breakfast Cereal (preferably not high sugar varieties)
- Crackers
- Pasta
- Rice
- Mac & Cheese
- Canned vegetables (green beans, peas, corn, etc.)
- Canned beans/pork n’ beans
- Canned Soup
- Tuna
- Pasta sauce
- Canned fruit
- Peanut butter