Wedholm said summer is often a particularly difficult time for food pantries. Kids who are out of school are in need of food that they otherwise receive through free lunch programs at schools. The other challenge is there aren’t as many donations coming in, unlike during the winter holiday season.
Nelly Jiménez-Arevalo, executive director of ACLAMO, a social services organization based in Norristown, said that their informal food support became an official food pantry during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the demand still hasn’t let up.
Many of their community members are immigrants and may not be eligible to access federal benefits like SNAP. They feel “at home,” Jiménez-Arevalo said, being able to speak with bilingual staff at ACLAMO and connect with an organization they’re already familiar with through their work in the community.
“They feel like they can trust us and they can come and get the help that they need,” she said.
To that end, many food security organizations look to provide community members with culturally appropriate foods that are best fitted to their lifestyle and resources they may or may not have — such as a refrigerator or a stove.
MAHN’s Bartscherer said it’s important for food-serving organizations throughout the county to improve how they understand and meet community members’ needs.
Source link
