CADILLAC — Several agencies in Northern Michigan have stepped up and are doing what they can to make sure they can meet the increase in demand, including at the Bread of Life Food Pantry in Baldwin in Lake County.
Director Lynne Mills said they’ve seen a bump in people coming to the pantry in an area that already sees a lot of need. Lake County is one of the poorest counties in Northern Michigan.
“We’ve been busy. We’re seeing an increase of request, as expected. Lots of uncertainty out in the community. We have so far been able to provide each week for the people that are coming,” said Mills.
She said they normally serve around 165 families each week but in the last two weeks, they had an additional 40 families come to their pantry.
“We’re going through a lot of supplies. We’re also receiving a good amount of supplies. People are concerned about whether or not we’ll have enough. So, they’re reaching out to us with donations, food deliveries. People are dropping things off to make sure that we have enough to share,” said Mills.
She said many different organizations, local businesses and people locally and those who have ties in the community have really stepped up to fill the extra demand.
“We have support from even outside Lake County that people care about this area, whether they’ve had property here in the past. Maybe I’m not really sure what their connection to us is, but they find us and they’re supporting us,” said Mills.
The Bread of Life Food Pantry is open every Wednesday from 11 to 3 pm. People in need can utilize the food pantry twice a month.
In Cadillac, Officer in Command, Captain Liz Bock at the Salvation Army said they are seeing almost double the amount of need at their pantry.
“Normally we can go from 10 to 15 families a day. We’ve been seeing 20 to 30 families a day, which equals about 180 to 200 people a week. Just really feeling the pressure and needing food this month,” said Bock.
Bock said they are fortunate that they are in their second weekend of their annual Ed Kellogg Food Drive helps stock their pantry and fill their upcoming Thanksgiving baskets for people in need.
“We counted over 9000 items of food that came in just from that weekend. And we’ve already gotten almost through all of it in our pantry in a week,” said Bock.
Volunteers will be at Walmart, Save A Lot, Family Fare in Cadillac, and Ebels in Falmouth Friday and Saturday, allowing people to get items that they can donate as they shop for their own groceries.
“The food that we get that’s not from our Thanksgiving baskets, which is the vegetables and stuff, will last till February, March. At this rate, it’s going to hopefully make it through the end of the year in our food pantry. But we’re still very blessed by everyone’s generosity,” said Bock.