Easton-based St. Vincent de Paul (SVdP) distributed more than $722,000 worth of food to those Talbot County residents in need during 2014, according to Kathy Weaver, who runs the Catholic non-profit’s food pantry. Weaver uses a combination of resources to supply food for the pantry which is open two-days each week — Tuesdays from 1-4 and Saturdays from 9 AM-Noon.
“I knew we were at record levels”, said Weaver, “but I had no idea the total value of the food we handed out last year. While it’s difficult to put an exact value on the food, a conservative estimate would be $722,000.”
SVdP, part of the Sts. Peter and Paul Conference, provides food for hundreds of needy Talbot County individuals and families who are eligible to receive food on a twice-monthly basis. The food comes from multiple resources including Maryland Food Bank’, Food Link, through which grocery stores donate items that are approaching their “sell-by” dates, individual donors, growers and other resources.
SVdP collects and distributes groceries from its Canvasback Road facility, behind Walmart in Easton.
Weaver said further, “Thanks to donors like Paris Foods in Trappe and Easton-based Council Farms and Gannon Farms, we are able to include frozen vegetables in our food distribution. The Maryland Food Bank provides grocery items at a fraction of the cost that supermarkets charge.”
This allows SVdP and other pantries to leverage their food budgets to feed those who could not afford the items at full retail prices.
“There are many people involved in getting and giving out the food”, Alex Handy, SVdP President reported. “We have a team of people who pick up the food from the grocery stores each day of the week; pickers who collect the produce; and handlers, loaders and un-loaders who move the food to our freezers, refrigerators and bagging area. Then we have the food packers who load the grocery bags; people who log-in each individual or family there to receive the food.”
In addition to the food Weaver orders from the Food Bank, she must find other sources for items that might not be available from that source. Her husband, Dick, is retired Navy, so they can buy items at the Commissary in Annapolis.
Weaver also reports that, “Walmart in Cambridge has generously sold SVdP needed items at discounted prices”.
Fortunately SVdP has a truck, donated by the Order of Malta, to use to pick up many of the donated and purchased items.
Handy is proud to point out that, “Fortunately we have a totally volunteer organization. It would be unaffordable if we had to pay people to do all this work. We are blessed having so many ‘giving’ people involved in feeding the hungry in Talbot County.”
..
Write a Letter to the Editor on this Article
We encourage readers to offer their point of view on this article by submitting the following form. Editing is sometimes necessary and is done at the discretion of the editorial staff.