SOS Community Services expanded food pantry services starting in January 2016. Previously, people could access the food pantry a maximum of six times per calendar year, but now people can access the pantry twelve times per year.
“We are seeing an increase in need for food,” says Marti Lachapell, food pantry coordinator at SOS. “90 percent of the people we serve are at 100 percent of poverty or less. This means for a family of 4 their annual income is $23,850 or less.”
SOS can better respond to the needs of families by increasing the number of times the pantry can be accessed for a full pantry visit (this includes selection of produce, meat, dairy, canned and dry goods). Families are still encouraged to come weekly (no appointment necessary) for items in the produce room.
“By increasing access to healthy, nutritious food SOS will help families stretch their limited dollars so they don’t have to choose between paying for their housing or paying for food,” states Lachapell.
In 2014, SOS moved from a traditional food distribution model of providing households with pre-bagged groceries into a choice pantry model where families get to select groceries based on their dietary needs and preferences. Over the last year, SOS’s food pantry has shown a 33 percent increase in services.
Currently, the food pantry on average serves 200 households per week. In addition to families accessing food, they also can get connected to personal care items, computer access to register for federal aid programs, and information on nutritional guidelines and healthy recipes. On a recent survey taken by people who access the food pantry, 80 percent stated that because of the SOS Food Pantry they worry less about feeding their family.
The SOS Food Pantry couldn’t operate without the generous support of the community. Recently, SOS received a $7,748 grant from the Ypsilanti Area Community Fund through the Ann Arbor Area Community Foundation to support the expansion of the food pantry. The SOS Food Pantry receives significant support from Food Gatherers, and funding from the Ann Arbor & Ypsilanti Crop Walk, and numerous other community partners that host drives and collections throughout the year.
As the food pantry services expand, the demand for volunteers has also increased. “Volunteers provide more than 90 percent of the labor required to have a successful pantry distribution every week,” explains Lachapell. “”Without our volunteers we would not be able to have a food pantry program. We love every volunteer that makes a gift to SOS of their time.”
Volunteers do a variety of tasks at the food program including unloading more than 7,000 pounds of food weekly, setting up for distribution, stocking shelves, and helping people that come into the pantry. With the expansion, more volunteers are needed weekly. Interested volunteers can email volunteer@soscs.orgor call (734) 484-9900.