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Meeting the need...
The shelves at local area food banks are full once again. In the weeks leading up to the holidays, local businesses and citizens banded together to donate and collect thousands of pounds of food to help those less fortunate.
But the demand for food hasn't eased up in recent years. Those who run the food banks in Mountain Home admit that the need has actually increased.
For now, however, the shelves are full, and there's a sense of optimism that needy families and individuals will have the food they need as they celebrate the season of giving.
The El Ada Community Action Agency office in the Stardust Plaza was able to stock the shelves at its food pantry through donations collected during a food drive hosted by local area Boy Scouts with more groceries collected by Alliance Title. They also received even more from a food drive hosted by East Elementary School.
"We usually are able to stock up because of the food drives during the holiday season," said Cristella Ramirez, county coordinator with the local relief agency.
On the other end of town, the Grace Lutheran Food Pantry on American Legion Boulevard received large donations of boxed and canned food last weekend during the start of the annual "Stuff the Bus" campaign. Representatives from the Caldwell Transportation Company set up three buses in front of local area supermarkets with people in the community contributing an estimated 2,500 pounds of food.
"It helped a whole bunch. We really appreciate it," said Carmen Metzer, a representative with the food pantry.
The bus company plans to host a similar effort Dec. 13.
Meanwhile, the Society of St. Vincent de Paul in Mountain Home ran similar efforts to fill the shelves at its food pantry. The Knights of Columbus in the local Catholic parish recently finished a drive with the parish's Mother Cabrini Sodality hosting a similar event, said Stephanie Aiken, president of the St. Vincent de Paul organization.
A bulk of food stocked by local pantries comes from the Idaho Food Bank in the Treasure Valley with local food drives helping keep the shelves stocked, much of which comes in prior to Thanksgiving.
Meanwhile, local grocery stores provide additional perishable products to the food banks on a regular basis, including dairy products and bread. These perishable supplies are then handed out each week to those in need.
Despite signs that the local economy is starting to improve, Ramirez hasn't seen any changes in the demand for help through her agency.
In fact, it's actually increased slightly over the past two years.
In October alone, El-Ada provided help for nearly 1,130 people with nearly 590 of those individuals between the ages of 19 to 59. Another 170 individuals were senior citizens on fixed income.
Ramirez isn't sure why those numbers continue to increase.
At the same time, the demand for food jumps significantly as the winter months approach, Metzer added. When the weather is warmer, Grace Lutheran helps about 130 families, but those numbers have nearly doubled since then.
In the past month alone, the food pantry handed out more than 200 boxes of food, which were expected to help about 650 people, said Jan Newman, a representative with the Grace Lutheran organization.
And when the weather worsens, families with limited income are faced with the tough choice of putting food on their table or keep the heat on in their homes, Metzer added.
"You can't live off of minimum wage," she said.
In the case of senior citizens, it's a matter of wanting to eat or being able to pay for their prescription medicines, Metzer added.
In addition, food prices continue to increase with people struggling to make their limited dollars stretch. For those living on this "financial edge," agencies like St. Vincent de Paul are working with people to help them stretch the limited dollars they have to spend, Aiken said.
"It's all the expensive stuff that's hard to buy," she added. "A can of soup costs 50 cents, but a pound of beef runs $1.79."
When the money runs out, it just gets worse. Aiken recalled one home visit where a family of four was looking at living off a single loaf of bread until the food pantry opened a week later. It's instances like this where organizers are willing to open the pantry to give these people emergency provision to get them through.
If faced with the choice of paying a bill or putting food on the table, Aiken urged people to pay their bill and come to one of the food pantries for help.
Despite the rising demand for food through local area, food pantries here continue to meet this need, Ramirez said.
"Mountain Home is a town that pulls together and contributes when it is needed," she said.
The current challenge is ensuring families here have enough food on their tables so they can celebrate the holiday season. To avoid putting undue strain on the food banks in town, El-Ada and Grace Lutheran developed a partnership where they each take turns putting together holiday food baskets for needy residents.
El-Ada provides food baskets before Thanksgiving with Grace Lutheran handing out a separate food basket before Christmas.
"Whatever we lack, they help us out with that, and whatever they lack we help them out," Ramirez said. "That really helps out that we are each taking one of the holidays."
On Nov. 16, airmen from the 366th Component Maintenance Squadron's propulsion shop helped sort through boxes of non-perishable food to prepare El-Ada for its yearly Thanksgiving distribution. Ramirez said her agency helped nearly 270 families that day.
To deal with the demand, El-Ada had received 102 frozen turkeys from the Idaho food bank but Thanksgiving quickly depleted the staples for that holiday with remaining families placed on a waiting list for any additional food. However, Ramirez said her agency received an additional turkey breast packages from the local Albertsons supermarket to help make up the shortage.
Meanwhile, Grace Lutheran is gearing up for its Christmas distribution. Its goal is to provide enough food in each box to allow families to have a complete holiday meal, complete with turkey, dressing and pumpkin pie.
At the same time, St. Vincent de Paul opened its pantry to the public last Tuesday evening with its next event planned for 6:30 p.m. Dec. 16.
Despite the demand, representatives from local area food banks remain optimistic that everyone in the Mountain Home area will all have the chance to sit down to enjoy a traditional holiday meal.
"You have to have faith that we are here for a purpose... and that we will be able to carry through with our mission thanks to the support of our community," Metzer said.
"This community is the best and any time we have been low (on food) they've always come through," Newman added.
"Our goal is to feed these families like we would feed our own," Aiken said.
Representatives from the local food banks also credited the efforts of countless volunteers that donate their time throughout the year.
Among them are students from Richard McKenna Charter High School and airmen from Mountain Home Air Force Base.
"If it wasn't for them, we would be lost," Newman said.