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Second Harvest changes tactics to get supplies
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Published: February 18, 2009
Empty shelves are the worst that can happen to a food pantry, and it has happened twice in recent months at the Harvest Center of Charlotte.
"I'm the one who had to go out and tell people standing in line that we had nothing left," said Blease Turner, executive director of the pantry on Charlotte's west side. "They didn't complain. We just stood there and I prayed with them."
On Wednesday, Second Harvest Food Bank of Metrolina offered a more earthly solution.
It's called the Tour de Food. Over the next two months, the agency intends to buy 300,000 pounds of food, and truck it to 44 emergency pantries spread across 19 counties that are being sucked dry by need.
It's an unprecedented step for Second Harvest, says Executive Director Kay Carter, who came up with the idea. "We normally don't buy food, it's donated to us. And we seldom do deliveries," she said. "But the majority of the pantries we deal with are small, volunteer-run operations, and it has become clear that they can no longer keep up with the demands being placed on them."
Food banks across the region are seeing 30 to 40 percent increases in the demand for their wares. Second Harvest intends to extend the program if the need continues, Carter said.
Partners in the plan include Harris Teeter, which is selling the food to Second Harvest at just above cost. Adams Outdoor Advertising has offered to promote the campaign on billboards in Mecklenburg County.
The Critical Need Response Fund operated by Foundation for the Carolinas also helped, with a $100,000 grant in December. That money can only be used for Mecklenburg County pantries. So Second Harvest is relying on grants and donations to supply food for the 18 surrounding counties.
The first loads have already been delivered, including six pallets of food to the Harvest Center, which has seen a 42 percent jump in visits.
On Friday, the trucks will deliver five pallets to Mooresville Christian Mission, a critical need charity that offers food, clothing and financial aid. The mission's pantry is now serving nearly 800 families per month, nearly double the number served last year.
Executive Director Valerie Chamberlain said deliveries from Second Harvest will lift a great burden for the pantry's staff of two. "We ran out of food around the holidays, and it was the first time in years," she said. "It was only one day, but that's one day too many."
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