A Willimantic food pantry is struggling to keep its shelves stocked and said it’s due to funding cuts.
Fanny Ovalles is one of the hundreds of people who rely on the Covenant Soup Kitchen in Willimantic every day.
“You always have something to eat, somewhere to come and cool off. … I feel like a little family here,” said Ovalles.
Virgil Marquez said he too counts on their support.
“It’s hard to get a job, balance and all that at the same time,” said Marquez. “It’s very vital.
Joanne Millette echoed those same sentiments.
“For the people who are homeless, and it’s cold out, you couldn’t ask for a better place to be,” said Millette.
Ray Aramini is part of the board of directors and volunteers at the Covenant Soup Kitchen and said they came into existence in 1981.
Since then, they have served those experiencing food insecurity 24/7, 365 days a year.
He said, due to federal funding cuts, the soup kitchen finds itself in a desperate need for help.
“How that translates for us is like, as I said, 150,000 pounds of food a year,” said Aramini.
The Covenant Soup Kitchen also has a food pantry where people can come and pick out food for themselves and their family.
Emma Espitia, a summer intern with the Covenant Food Pantry, said things have changed drastically in just the past few months.
“When I first started at the end of May, we were stocked like crazy. We had variety in every single area of our pantry,” said Espitia. “We don’t have that anymore.”
Since posting a plea on social media earlier this week, the soup kitchen said via Facebook they have seen some donations come in, but they told us they are still in desperate need of food and hygiene items like canned fruit, vegetables, soups, cereal, oatmeal, pasta, shelf-stable milk, soap, shampoo, diapers, deodorant and toothpaste.
Espitia said they will continue to do all they can to help those who are struggling.
“This stuff is donation-based, and that’s huge,” said Espitia. “But at the end of the day, you know, if all we can do is keep trying to offer people what we have.”
If you can donate, they ask you to drop off all donations at the back door of the church building marked CSK Deliveries.
For financial donations and more information on all they need help with, you can go to their website.
Additionally, they have an Amazon wish list, which they said has been a huge help so far.