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QuickTake:
Neighbors are helping each other out, and food pantries are bracing for an uptick in demand and putting out calls for help with federal food benefits on track to stop Nov. 1. One meal at a time, Lane County’s network of neighbors, nonprofits and grassroots organizations is gearing up.
In south Eugene, a Facebook group put out a call for action, seeking people who can help their neighbors with a meal.
Food pantries are seeing an uptick in people lined up for groceries and looking for ways to marshal volunteers and attract more donations. Food for Lane County, the nonprofit that distributes to pantries, faces rising demand for supplies from its warehouse.
From neighborhoods to food distribution warehouses, individuals — and organizations — are bracing for Nov. 1, when federal food benefits may cease in Oregon and across the nation. The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, commonly known as SNAP, provides food assistance to about 1 in 6 Oregonians, which is about 757,000 people. In Lane County, more than 75,000 people use SNAP benefits.
The program feeds Lane County’s elderly, people with disabilities and working-class poor: The same people who bus tables in restaurants, clean businesses and pump gas. Neighbors, friends and co-workers in communities across Lane County are working to help those struggling to make ends meet amid a rising tide of inflation and government belt-tightening.
In Lane County, an all-hands-on-deck approach extends beyond high-profile nonprofits. For example, the Buy Nothing Eugene Friendly/South Hills Facebook group is a forum in which people can post items they want to give away — and what they need. It can be anything from a car to a meal.
The catch: Nothing is for sale, hence the name, which is part of a national organization, the Buy Nothing Project.
That group is working to match up those people with groceries and food to spare with those in need. The group allows direct messages and tailors each person’s needs with the capacity — and dietary preferences — of each giver. For example, a vegan giver may be better suited to help a vegan person in need.
The goal is to build community and individual connections, said Stephanie La Forge, an administrator of the group. Its purpose is to match people with people, not refer them to organizations.
“You might need food,” La Forge said. “And somebody goes, ‘Oh, well, there’s a free pantry.’ And then everybody else scrolls by, because it looks like it’s solved, right? But that misses the opportunity for somebody to build a person-to-person connection.”
So far, the idea is picking up. Earlier this week, the 2,100-member group had about 40 people sign up to help people buy groceries. Another 15 people have reached out to be paired with someone.
Needs, and the capacity of a giver to help, can stay private. The group’s system allows people to privately say how much they can share without spreading it across the internet.
“Nobody has to say, ‘Well, I’ve only got $20 I can contribute,’” La Forge said. “They don’t have to post it publicly.”
La Forge said the model harkens back to a simpler era, when neighbors were comfortable enough with each other to walk next door and ask to borrow a cup of sugar.
High needs at Food for Lane County
At Food for Lane County, two warehouses distribute food to pantries and food banks throughout the county. The nonprofit’s primary role is distribution, and it serves as a hub for donations.
Last year, Food for Lane County distributed more than 8.5 million pounds of food through all of its programs.
Even before the federal shutdown, Food for Lane County already faced rising demand and cuts earlier this year to a federal commodities program that left the nonprofit and others with less food to give.
And Food for Lane County’s executive director said food banks were never intended to replace SNAP benefits.
“No food bank in this country is set up to meet the need,” said Carolyn Stein. “The food bank has never been the first line of defense for nutrition assistance. I mean, a federal program is supposed to do that, and there is no way to ‘food bank’ out of this. There is no way that a food bank can meet the needs that currently exist.”
Yet people and organizations, neighbors and nonprofits, are doing what they can to bridge the gap.
At Food for Lane County, people are picking up collection barrels to place in offices and public places.
“People really are just stepping up in the most incredible way possible,” Stein said. “Volunteers wanting to come. Our hope is that we can have additional food that we can purchase. We don’t know that we can do that yet, but we’re looking at the potential to do that.”
Still, Stein and others warn that the food supply has limits.
“I would expect that people will see very long lines at our pantries, and that there is the potential that we will run out of food,” she said.
A pantry gets ready
One of those places with long lines is Catholic Community Services of Lane County.
“We’re not even waiting for Nov. 1,” said Lorri Perreault, the executive director. “Just in the last two weeks, our numbers have really increased, and the lines out the doors have increased. Just in the last couple of days, we’ve had hundreds of new people that are showing up.”
The nonprofit put out a call for help officially on Thursday. The nonprofit operates two pantries — one in Eugene and one in Springfield — and is the largest direct distributor of no-cost food in the county.
It’s seeking donations: $500,000 as part of an “urgent food appeal.”
It’s also seeking volunteers to build their capacity to collect food. Given enough volunteers with large vehicles, the organization may be able to pick up food donations from locations like grocery stores, Perreault said.
The work of any pantry requires a lot of logistics, and the supplies are not guaranteed to last indefinitely in times of higher need.
“It’s not that we can just flip a switch and, you know, have more food delivered to us,” Perreault said. “The message to the community is that, yes, there are pantries in place — (and) that they are extremely taxed already.”
Other providers that serve the vulnerable are also anticipating higher demand.
Relief Nursery, a nonprofit that serves about 1,000 children and families annually in Lane County, is also making plans for its clients that include grocery store gift cards, ordering more bulk foods to supplement weekly food boxes, and possibly accessing emergency funds, said Amy Beauchamp, development and volunteer director at Relief Nursery.
“We are definitely looking at ways to assist Relief Nursery families with food accessibility in the absence of SNAP payments,” Beauchamp said.
The organization helps vulnerable children and supports families with programs that include home visits, mental health and counseling services and parenting education.
Beauchamp said the pending cancellation of SNAP benefits comes amid a difficult backdrop of soaring inflation, high housing costs and approaching winter heating costs.
“It really is going to push some families over the brink and into crisis if SNAP isn’t paid,” Beauchamp said.
St. Vincent de Paul Society of Lane County serves three meals a day at its Eugene Service Station, a day shelter that offers food, clothing and other help.
Combined with its other shelters, the nonprofit served 193,539 meals in the last fiscal year, said Bethany Cartledge, the organization’s executive director.
People can consider volunteering, pitching in to help the nonprofit’s holiday food box drive, donating to Food for Lane County and should keep their neighbors in mind, Cartledge said.
“Be kind,” Cartledge said. “Folks are experiencing greater degrees of stress and uncertainty. Empathy and understanding go a long way.”
How to get help
Food for Lane County partners and pantries: https://www.foodforlanecounty.org/food/free-food-finder/
Dining rooms and Meals on Wheels for people 60 and older: https://www.lcog-or.gov/sdslane/page/senior-meals-program#cafe-60
St. Vincent Eugene Service Station: https://www.svdp.us/services/emergency-services/eugene-service-station/
How to help
Donate food or funds to Food for Lane County: https://www.foodforlanecounty.org/ways-to-give/donate/
Donate funds to Catholic Community Services: https://www.ccslc.org/foodsos
Volunteer for Food for Lane County: https://www.mobilize.us/foodforlanecounty/
Donate to St. Vincent de Paul: https://www.svdp.us/get-involved/give-back-donate-funds/
