Wednesday, Mar. 10, 2010

Coalition helps food closets serve more

Until recently, needy folks were out of luck if they needed a food pantry on a Tuesday.

While two pantries kept Friday hours, none were open on Tuesday. Realizing the problem, the Yes We Can Johnston County Coalition stepped in to supply volunteers for Tuesday hours at Clayton Area Ministries.

It's one of the first steps the group is taking to improve local food-pantry operations.

"We were not working together at all," said Linda Whitley, who organizes food distribution at New Trinity Missionary Baptist Church. "Now we're trying to work together."

Earlier this month, representatives of five church-run food pantries in Clayton met with Yes We Can leaders to hash out a plan for collaboration. The main goal is to find some rent-free warehouse space where they can combine operations so no one goes hungry. They also want to increase food collection through drop boxes and restaurant leftovers, begin promoting the town's food pantries and serve sit-down meals on holidays.

With little promotion, it was hard for the needy to know which churches had food and when, Whitley said. "We don't know where the population is that really needs the food, and the population doesn't know where we are," she said. "If we bind together as a group, they'll have access to something to eat every day."

Dr. Norwood Williams, president of Yes We Can, wants to set up a volunteer-staffed hotline where people can find out where food is given out. He also wants to increase the amount of food available and the number of volunteers involved with local efforts.

"People don't like to give money like they used to -- they want to get involved," he said.

Williams estimates that the five Clayton-area food pantries gave out about 90,000 meals in 2009. But by his estimation, the Clayton area is home to about 7,500 people who live below the poverty line, so more food is needed, he said.

Yes We Can members plan to start by setting up about 20 collection bins around town. They'll encourage beauty salons to offer discounts to anyone who brings two cans of food to an appointment; the salons can deduct the discounts from their taxes.

The group is also pushing restaurants and farmers to give leftovers they'd otherwise have to throw out. Some restaurants had declined to do this in the past, citing liability concerns, Williams said, but he now has a letter from the county health department authorizing the donations.

He noted that First Baptist Church in Smithfield has partnered for years with White Swan Bar-B-Que.

Williams said he'd also like to see more holiday sit-down meals served to Clayton's needy. He's particularly interested in Easter and Thanksgiving and is talking to several churches interested in hosting the meals.

To fund the programs, Yes We Can is seeking a $3,000 grant from the Town of Clayton. Williams said he sees the entire project as an experimental model that the coalition can eventually implement in the Smithfield/Selma and Princeton/Micro/Pine Level areas.

"I'm going to transfer this to other regions in this county," Williams said.

The food-distribution effort is the latest project for Yes We Can, a countywide group founded about a year ago to improve services to the needy. It has provided scholarships to local high schoolers and recently wrapped up a series of five community meetings in which residents could voice concerns and learn of available services.