LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Two weeks ago, the food pantry closets at South Louisville Community Ministries (SLCM) were fully stocked. Now, some shelves are nearly or completely bare.
What You Need To Know
- South Louisville Community Ministries needs help from the community
- The SLCM’s food panty shelves are running bare
- SLCM provides weekly produce and monthly food boxes to families in need
- They accept food donations at the office Monday through Thursday
SLCM assistant director Kate Husks said the pantry won’t receive its next Dare to Care donation for another two weeks.
“We ran through it so quickly because we had so much of an increased need,” Husk said. “It’s almost a perfect storm. We’ve had the summer starting and then we’ve had all of the increased costs and everything as well, and it’s all coming together to lead to an increased need.”
The pantry provides fresh produce weekly and an average of 40 food boxes monthly.
Recently, that number is up to 60 boxes and growing.
SLCM is asking the community for food donations to help every family searching for their next meal.
SLCM accepts food donations Monday through Thursday from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. at their office at 415 ½ W. Ashland Avenue in Louisville.
“We often hear from parents that are like, ‘I don’t know how to tell my kids that I don’t have enough food, or what I’m going to do and I’m so worried about that.’ That simply taking some of the stress and relieving some of that for these families is huge,” Husk said.
Bare shelves in the food pantry are just one worry on the desk of the food pantry coordinator and front office supervisor Denis Thurston.
“Call back maybe the middle of next week and the end of next week. We may have something available,” Thurston said to a person who called, looking for assistance.
Calls for utility, rental, clothing and furniture assistance are also keeping the food pantry coordinator’s line busy.
“It’s just the funds, trying to help everybody, which is very difficult, but the need for everything is we’re getting the out-pour of everything that’s needed that we provide services for,” Thurston added.
With the community’s help, they can provide more families with more food and peace of mind.
“We worry about our neighbors and that sort of thing when we come in and there’s not enough for everybody, so we’re making sure everybody gets something. It’s just determining how much we can give to each family.”