TOPEKA, Kan. (WIBW) – More families find they aren’t getting as much bang for their buck at the grocery store these days, so they’re asking for help. Food distributions can be a lifeline.
A line hundreds of cars long wound around the Kansas Neurological Institute Thursday morning.
“It looked like it was starting to clear up but now the line is getting longer once again,” said Dan Greer, a minister and volunteer at Thursday’s food distribution.
Some were there for their own families.
“I have three kids, my wife,” says Ramiro Renteria, who picked up food.
Others waited in line for hours to get food for friends or neighbors. Many of them are senior citizens.
Pati Wilson said she lives in a senior living community.
“We get what they give us, and then we share with what’s in our building yet, with people that needed in our building.
“It’s really nice to see that generosity,” says Greer. “They’re not picking up for themselves, a whole lot of the cars are that way. And they just see a lot of need, because there’s a lot of need right now and they’re fulfilling that need.”
A common refrain being that their dollars simply don’t go as far at the grocery store these days.
“Back from my day, we used to spend a good $45 to get some good food,” said Renteria. “And now you have to spend $200 in order to get that same amount of food they used to get. It’s crazy, but this is a big help.”
Town and Country Christian Church, in partnership with Harvesters, distributed more than 40,000 pounds of fresh, nutritious food to an estimated 600 families.
Kathy Deitering, volunteer coordinator for the church, says empty bellies hurt communities more broadly.
“If people don’t have food, crime’s going to rise, children and get hungry, domestic violence,” said Deitering. “I mean, people have to have their basic needs met.”
“It’s very important, you never know from day to day what’s going to happen with the current administration,” said Wilson. “There [are] people here in our community, especially, they are very hungry that mean, they don’t know, you know, what’s going to happen?
They’re scared. There [are] a lot of people scared, and you know, and the budget cuts as they are and they’re a lot of these pantries are lifesavers.”
Harvesters will host several similar events throughout the year. A full calendar is available on its website.
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