The Clay County Ministerial Alliance Food Pantry has continued to see more people come through its doors over the last several months as tough economic times continue to plague the area.
The food pantry, which opened in 2002, has seen it numbers swell from 1,545 families served in the first year of operation to 5,974 families served in 2009.
In total, more than 31,300 families have received help from the organization and more than 83,600 people have received food thanks to the volunteers and donations of people throughout Clay County.
Volunteer Esther Walker said that recently the pantry had been serving around 130 families a week.
“It had been as high as 207 families had been coming in to get food,” Walker said. “That is a lot of people.”
She said that some food pantries are have a hard time keeping up with the demand of more people needing help, but so far, the Ministerial Alliance Food Pantry has been able to keep up with the need.
The pantry raises funds through a variety of means. Some of the churches involved with the alliance pledge a certain amount for the year and some take a special collection once a month.
Walker said there are also individuals in the community that have been very faithful about making personal donations to the organization.
It was the generosity of the late Doug Phillips and his wife Jan, that allowed the Food Pantry to move into a new building a couple of years ago. The food pantry had occupied the a building that was once Andy’s Market on south Main Street, but out grew the location.
In August 2007 the pantry moved into the new building on Austin which was built by the Phillips.
The building come with plenty of space and walk-in coolers and freezers to help store more items on sight.
Besides individuals, groups are also an important part of the food pantry’s ability to thrive.
Walker talked about groups such as the Boy Scouts, Farm Bureau and Post Office who have had canned food drive.
Local businesses have also been supportive of the pantry. IGA will be matching food that is purchased at the store with the Farm Bureau in a couple of weeks and they also donate food to the pantry on a regular basis.
Cellular was recently at the pantry donating a $500 check to the organization after customers picked them as their favorite charity during the holiday season.
Local meat processors Blair Slaughtering and Processing and Mike’s Market both donate deer meat to the pantry.
Every week the food pantry receives shipments from the Eastern Illinois Food Bank as well. Every month the Alliance buys $2,000 worth of food at 22 cents a pound. Which works out to about 22 tons of food a month.
There is also a truck company in Sumner owned by Keith Moore that picks-up food from the Wal-Mart Distribution Center in Olney. The food is then evenly distributed to food pantries across the area.
Walker said that the biggest months for donations is November and December and then it tails off some after that.
“People want to make sure that those in need have a nice Holiday season, so people give more then,” Walker said.
The food pantry distributes food every Monday morning for two hours and is located at 1011 Austin Avenue in Flora.
