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Pantry battles area hunger

Weekend concert to benefit Hamitlon site

Gary Chapman, right, oversees the distribution of food outside the Open Door Pantry on Front Street in Hamilton, Thursday. This year marks the 20th time a concert fundraiser will be held for the Pantry in Hamilton.

Staff photo by Greg Lynch Gary Chapman, right, oversees the distribution of food outside the Open Door Pantry on Front Street in Hamilton, Thursday. This year marks the 20th time a concert fundraiser will be held for the Pantry in Hamilton.

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By Richard O Jones, Staff Writer 8:36 PM Monday, October 31, 2011

HAMILTON — Although many were surprised by the snap of cold, dozens of people still converged on the Open Door Pantry on Thursday - those without heavy coats shivering in the cold - as Vince Sanford began unloading pallets of fresh produce.

Jeannette Parker, 73, though warmly dressed in a fleece coat, still wasn’t terribly happy to be standing on Front Street waiting her turn.

“It’s a shame that a person has to scratch for food like this,” she said. After working for 27 years at the U.S. Shoe factory in Cincinnati, raising five children on the salary, she found herself suddenly out of work in 2000 when the plant relocated to Honduras.

She took a job as a WalMart greeter, but after nine years found that she couldn’t stand for a full shift anymore, so now lives only on her Social Security.

Her husband died in 1983, and she never remarried, “So I toughed it out,” she said.

She owns her own home, she said, but the Social Security won’t even cover her expenses. She picks up some extra money when she can by babysitting, and one month out of the year she gets HEAP money to help pay her utilities, and she goes to three food pantries, at least for as long as she can stand it.

“I’ve had a broken hip and I can’t take this cold weather,” she said, but she remains stoic about her hardship.

“The Lord’s still with me,” she said. “He still provides.”

Gary Chapman, the pantry’s executive director, greeted many of the people on the sidewalk by name, chatting them up about what they’re driving these days. He’s been in charge of the pantry for three years, its only paid employee, but he’s a veteran of the place, having been a volunteer for more than a decade before taking the job that was previously held by his wife Bobbie.

Thursday is the Open Door Pantry’s busiest day, Chapman said, simply because it’s the day it opens later to accommodate the working poor who can’t come during the 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. hours Monday through Wednesday.

Being the end of the month, the shelves inside the pantry were on the bare side, Chapman said, but when the doors opened at 4:20, a few minutes before the scheduled time, about 30 people filed in to get their number to be served.

Because of dwindling resources, the pantry recently lowered the limits on the amount of food a person can take at one time to 15 items. They’re allowed to come once a month. “A year ago, we allowed 25 items,” he said. “Six months ago, we dropped it to 20. Things are critical right now.”

Some days, the pantry serves as many as 400 people. In September, 2,814 people came to shop.

And the numbers show an increasing need. In 2009, the pantry served an average of 534 families a month. That number soared in 2010 to 900 families a month. So far in 2011, the average is 663 through the end of September, but November and December tend to be the busiest months.

“That’s why we’re here,” he said, “to help people in need.”

The most popular items are peanut butter, Ramen noodles and green beans. Peanut butter, Chapman said, is hard to come by these days due to poor peanut crops.

“The only way we get that is through churches and food barrels,” he said. “The trigger is money. If we have money, we could have food. We have yet to turn down a millionaire who wants to make a donation.”

Dave Schul, president of the pantry’s board of directors, said, “We will stay open as long as we can with what we’ve got so we can serve as many people as we can.”

The Open Door Pantry was founded 30 years ago by the late Mildred Whitehead. It’s mission is not to be a grocery store for the poor, but to help people on an emergency, temporary basis, though many of its patrons have come every month for a decade or more. Still, Chapman said every month he meets new families in need of food.

“When I first came on the board,” said Lori Rehm, “we packed bags of food for people, but we soon learned that they like to pick their own when we’d come in on some days and find items people didn’t want sitting by the front door.”

According to Tina Osso, executive director of the Shared Harvest Food Bank, one of the pantry’s suppliers, Whitehead was instrumental in the movement that led to the founding of Shared Harvest in 1983.

“The Open Door Pantry had gone to the United Way and the county saying there were more people asking for help than they could serve and wanted to get a food bank started for Butler County,” Osso said. “So they were the ones who put the bug in the ear of the county and local faith-based organizations to bring Shared Harvest to Butler County.

The pantry operates on a budget of $125,000 a year, but eschews United Way funding, although United Way helps them with bookkeeping.

“They write checks for us, but not checks to us,” Chapman said. “Being on our own allows us to make our own way. Virtually every dollar we have coming in goes out for food and service. Contributions don’t go to the building,” as the rent is donated. Chapman is the only paid employee, though some workers are provided through Senior Employment, an agency that retrains people 55 years and older so they can re-enter the work force. The rest are volunteers, sometimes as many as 10 a day, but sometimes only two or three. Loretta Printup comes in every day to help process people and be a shoulder to cry on when necessary.

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The 20th annual Benefit Concert for the Open Door Pantry

3 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 6

Zion Lutheran Church, South Front and Ludlow streets, Hamilton

Timothy Landers and David Miller, pastors

Performers include:

• Carrie and Champy Halim

• Richard Ruby

• Kennedy Heights First Baptist Church Male Chorus

• Harmony Street Barbershop Quartet

• Hamilton Fairfield Symphony Orchestra Chorale

• Organist Randy Runyon