A $500 donation from the Pratt Elks Lodge on Wednesday was desperately needed at the Pratt Christian Food Bank after a huge jump in clients in June.
In June the bank served 277 people, a jump of 158 from a year ago in June 2008 when they served 119, said Diana Harris, Christian Food Bank Board of Directors president.
That was also a jump of 118 customers more than the bank served in May.
The number of new clients has steadily increased since the beginning of the year with 352 new clients since Jan. 1.
The number of clients has increased so much that most of the shelves in the Food Bank are empty or are extremely low. Some of the items that are always well stocked like canned green beans and corn plus macaroni and cheese are at their lowest levels ever.
“I would never have expected this,” Harris said.
The numbers tell a serious story. For the first six months of 2009 the bank has served 1,168 clients. The total number clients served for all of 2008 was just 1,328 and the bank has almost reached that number in just six months, Harris said.
Harris suspects the increase in clients is because of the economy. Hours have been cut and more people are unemployed, Harris said.
In some homes family and friends are moving in to save money and increasing the number of people to feed in one house.
Food expense numbers are also climbing quickly. For the first six months of 2009 the bank has spent $8,215 for food compared with $9,098 for the entire year of 2008.
In the month of June alone the food bank spent $2,200 for food.
“This is not a good indicator of where we are headed,” Harris said.
The grocery list of food needed at the bank includes cereal, soup, macaroni and cheese,
spaghetti, hamburger helper, canned vegetables like corn, green beans and tomatoes, pork and beans, red beans, kidney beans, canned fruit and instant mashed potatoes. These items are almost gone and need to be replenished now.
Besides food donations, the food bank needs monetary donations to purchase basics of sugar, flour, cooking oil and to pay the utilities. In the past monetary donations have been enough to buy the basics and pay the bills.
Checks can be made to Pratt Christian Food Bank, 111 West Fourth, Pratt, KS 67124. Donations can be left at the bank during regular business hours: Monday 7 p.m. to 8 p.m.; Wednesday 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.; Thursday 7 p.m. to 8 p.m.; Friday 10 a.m. to noon.
To qualify for the food bank clients have to be a resident of Pratt County with proof of residence such as mail sent to the client at a Pratt County address or the address on a driver’s license.
The Pratt Elks Lodge donation was timely. The Elks Lodge1451 has 413 members. The lodge pledged to meet the Grand Exalted Rulers goal of donating $1,755 to the National Elks Foundation and they met that goal. As a result they were eligible to apply for the Elks National Foundation Promise Grant and were chosen to receive the $500 grant. The grant money has to go to a charitable organization and the Elks chose to donate to the Pratt Christian Food Bank.
Pratt, Kan. —
