Cupboards are bare at food bank in Portsmouth

Food pantry at St. John’s Lodge in dire need of donations — both food and cash

By Jim McGaw
Posted 6/30/22

PORTSMOUTH — Higher food prices coupled with a greater demand from local families in need have put a strain on the community food pantry at St. John’s Lodge on Sprague …

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Cupboards are bare at food bank in Portsmouth

Food pantry at St. John’s Lodge in dire need of donations — both food and cash

Posted

PORTSMOUTH — Higher food prices coupled with a greater demand from local families in need have put a strain on the community food pantry at St. John’s Lodge on Sprague Street.

“Our usership went from 60 to 65 families a week one year ago to about 100 now. Less stuff is coming in, there’s a higher demand, and also higher prices for (food),” said Scott Jamieson, the pantry’s financial manager. 

Added Juan Carlos Payero, the master of St. John’s and chairman of the food pantry’s board of directors, “The food bank is basically — I don’t want to say running on fumes, but it is. Things have dried up and our shelves are going empty.”

The time of year doesn’t help either.

“It’s insidious,” Jamieson said. “From a month before Thanksgiving to Easter, donations are a go-go; that’s just what happens. And then after Easter it drops off. Everyone’s in summer mode and they’re not thinking about charity, generally. So between that and rising costs and rising usership, we’re basically at zero.”

As of Monday, the pantry had about $2,000 in the bank, which lasts about three weeks. “In the past, we had been spending between $2,000 and $2,500 a month stocking these shelves. Now we’re at a point where stocking these shelves costs $4,000 to $4,500. That’s where we’re at.”

He points to the pantry’s shelves inside a small room on one side of the building. While there appears to be only a few bare spots, the supply will quickly be depleted, Jamieson said. “Everything you see on these shelves will be gone by Friday.”

Cash donations down

Although contributions of non-perishables are down, organizers are more concerned about the sharp decline in monetary donations. “(Cash) is best because it allows us to replenish whatever we happen to be down on that week,” he said, noting that while the pantry still receives money from “the larger donors,” the smaller ones have nearly dried up.

“The donations are down, but it’s not even really their fault because a lot of people can’t afford to donate. Some people would send $50 checks every month, which have disappeared,” Jamieson said. “It’s not for lack of trying. Portsmouth is awesome. We have a lot of diehards who send us a check every month, but it’s not enough to keep it afloat.”

While donations normally subside between April and September, things are different this year because both the demand and cost of food are higher.

“Probably 80 percent of the people coming through here are living on a fixed income. That income’s not going not change, but the price of food does,” said Mary Anne Crittenden, the food bank’s director.

Because money is low, the pantry has had to reduce the number of food bags it hands out to families from three to two. “If you have a family of four or larger, you get an extra bag,” Crittenden said, adding that “about 90 percent” of the families who pick up food are from Portsmouth.

She and Jamieson said they’re grateful for the regular food donors who often bail them out, such as Ocean State Air Solutions, Inc. in Portsmouth.

“When they hear that we’re in need, they bring stuff. That’s why we have peanut butter, jelly, all this pasta. They go to town. When they catch wind, boy they just help us out. The only thing that keeps us going is the people of Portsmouth,” Crittenden said.

Jamieson said he hopes things will improve once the food pantry is approved for 501(c)(3) nonprofit designation, which may happen within a month. That will allow the pantry to properly solicit donations from corporations, he said.

In the meantime, they’ll have to make do in helping the community’s most vulnerable families stretch their grocery bills.

“We’re just trying to help people make it through the week. That’s the goal,” said Crittenden. 

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Meet our staff
Jim McGaw

A lifelong Portsmouth resident, Jim graduated from Portsmouth High School in 1982 and earned a journalism degree from the University of Rhode Island in 1986. He's worked two different stints at East Bay Newspapers, for a total of 18 years with the company so far. When not running all over town bringing you the news from Portsmouth, Jim listens to lots and lots and lots of music, watches obscure silent films from the '20s and usually has three books going at once. He also loves to cook crazy New Orleans dishes for his wife of 25 years, Michelle, and their two sons, Jake and Max.