CHARLOTTE — Officials from Catholic Charities Diocese of Charlotte are concerned there may be a greater need in the coming weeks for donations to its three food pantries, as they try to meet the needs of people impacted by the recently ended government shutdown.
Catholic Charities operates food pantries in Asheville, Charlotte and Winston-Salem. In 2017-’18, the food pantries served more than 14,923 clients, distributing 582,621 pounds of food to people in need in their communities.
Although SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) benefits for February were distributed to qualified families in mid-January during the five-week federal government shutdown, Catholic Charities’ executive director Dr. Gerard Carter is concerned that many recipients will run out of food money before the end of this month. Even if SNAP benefits for March are distributed on time, these families may come up short and need food to carry them through.
“SNAP benefits were released early (in January) to cover February, but people living on the margins are likely to deplete food benefits over the next three to four weeks, which leaves one to two weeks in late February that will not be covered even if benefits are restored for March,” Carter said. “We expect and need to plan for a huge potential increase in demand.”
Deacon Mark Nash, Catholic Charities’ western region office director, said the recent government shutdown has been the subject of much conversation in Asheville. Various social service agencies in the region are discussing how they may be able to help.
“Our food bank partner, MANNA, has opened their doors on a limited basis for all federal employees,” Deacon Nash said. “They have communicated to us that they are prepared to provide food to partners such as Catholic Charities for as long as possible. They gave no specifics, but were not giving us any cause for immediate concern.”
He acknowledged that clients coming to the Asheville food pantry the past few weeks have said they are worried.
“A great deal of our participants are SNAP recipients,” he said. “They voiced concerns about whether there would be funds for them in March. This is the area where we feel the shutdown would have the greatest impact on our resources.”
Deacon Nash said his reply has been simple: “We have no control over the SNAP program but are committed to providing adequate and nutritious food each and every Wednesday.”
— SueAnn Howell, senior reporter
How you can help
Financial donations to help Catholic Charities purchase food can be made online at www.ccdoc.org, under the “Donate” tab.
Food donations can also be dropped off at all three food pantry locations. Items always needed are: canned fruit, juice, tea and coffee, rice, spaghetti sauce, tuna, pasta, peanut butter, jelly, cereal and canned vegetables.
Non-food items – including toiletries, laundry detergent and paper products – are also always needed. The Charlotte food pantry can now accept refrigerated products like milk, yogurt, cheese and fresh produce.
Schedule your food drop-off in advance by calling 828-255-0146 in Asheville; 704-370-3228 in Charlotte; and 336-727-0705 in Winston-Salem.
