Food pantries serving record numbers
‘Need is tremendous’ as holiday season approaches
At the East End Cooperative Ministry in East Liberty, snow flurries kicked up outside Friday afternoon as hundreds of guests ate free turkey and pecan pie during the ministry’s annual Thanksgiving lunch.
Mayor Ed Gainey, at times wearing a sequined Santa hat, scooped and served buttered corn and collard greens to the sounds of “Baby, It’s Cold Outside.”
The cozy and festive scene inside stood in contrast to a real, bleak need outside. As local soup kitchens and food pantries gear up to help the needy celebrate the holiday season, they say they are facing record demand from people struggling to recover from the pandemic and keep up with inflation.
“Our numbers have just been off the charts, to be honest with you — off the charts,” said Krista Brolley, community food pantry coordinator at East End Cooperative Ministry. “The need is tremendous right now. It’s the inflation — they have to pick and choose between what
they have to pay and what they have to sacrifice.”
Food prices on the whole are expected to rise about 10% in 2022, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Staples such as eggs, milk and chicken saw large price increases in 2022, with the price of eggs up nearly 30%.
In the city’s Knoxville neighborhood, more than 100 people showed up Thursday to receive turkeys, pies and rolls donated by Giant Eagle and distributed by the Brashear Association. The turkeys, given out in reusable Steelers bags, were reserved for the working poor, those who make too much money to qualify for other holiday assistance programs. Giant Eagle distributed another 100 turkeys at the Kingsley Association in Larimer on Thursday.
“This specific group is just near and dear to our hearts,” said Andrea Matthews, executive director of the Brashear Association, which provides social services in south Pittsburgh. “They get very little support during the year and they’re going out every day working, trying to feed their families, and they’re often overlooked.”
The Brashear Association also distributes gift cards every year to help those who make less than 200% of the poverty line afford groceries for holiday meals. This year, the group will give out more than 60,000 gift cards — up from about 55,000 last holiday season.
“To be able to get some support like this means a lot,” said Ms. Matthews. “If
you can’t buy a turkey or sides for your family, it does something to you. It’s important.”
At the East End Cooperative Ministry, Marli VanHorne, of Larimer, understands that importance. For two years, she attended the lunch as a community member who could use a Thanksgiving meal. This year, she wanted to give back and volunteer. She brought her 12-year-old son, Jamieson, with her and together they cleared and wiped down tables.
In previous years, “it felt good to have people to rely on,” she said. And this year, she just feels “thankful.”
Other soup kitchens and food pantries in the region
will hold similar events. The Rainbow Kitchen in Homestead will serve its Thanksgiving feast Tuesday, operating as a sit-down meal for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic began in 2020.
Donna Little, executive director of the Rainbow Kitchen, has worked there since 1999. This is the highest that she’s seen demand.
“We saw a huge increase with the pandemic, and then really starting this summer we started seeing another one with the inflation,” she said. “For people that were living right on the edge to begin with, even if it was a relatively small increase in your expenses, if you were right on the edge, that takes you over
the edge.”
At the same time that they are trying to meet increased demand due to inflation, food pantries also are battling inflation to provide services for their clientele.
“It’s a double whammy,” said Ms. Little. “So much more need is hitting us and everything we are doing to provide for people is costing us so much more. It’s really creating a crunch.”
At the East End Cooperative Ministry, chef and community food services director Anthony Arca prepared enough food to serve 400 people Friday.
Prices on some ingredients increased dramatically even from last year, he said, with butter in particular up
about 50%. Securing 150 pounds of turkey was a challenge because of supply chain issues, he said, as was cooking it all in three days once they were able to get it on Tuesday.
Much of the public doesn’t realize the extent of the need right now, said Ms. Brolley of the East End Cooperative Ministry food pantry, which now serves about 1,500 households, up from about 900 a year ago. Many of those signing up now have never used a foodpantry before, she said.
“There’s a giant disconnect between people who have not ever experienced poverty and hunger and understanding this dilemma that we’re having,” she said. “We err on the sideof giving.”