SOUTH HADLEY — While South Hadley’s Neighbors Helping Neighbors Food Pantry experiences a surging clientele, the annual Bag the Community drive will be held later this month to help fill the pantry’s shelves.
Bag the Community is the pantry’s largest drive, typically providing nearly half of its annual resources. This year, the need for these donations is greater than ever — the pantry saw unprecedented demand over the summer, which has only continued to grow, said pantry operations manager Mary Lou Guarnera. The drive, now in its 10th year, will be held from Jan. 18 to Jan 20.
“It just keeps increasing,” Guarnera said. “We’re getting a lot of senior citizens coming in right now, and quite frankly, we’re very concerned about the proposal that’s in the works for more cutbacks for SNAP,” she added, referring to proposed reductions to food stamps by the Trump administration.
“One of the things that’s going to do is remove free lunches for a lot of kids, so it could just be devastating to pantries and food banks as well,” Guarnera said.
The pantry currently serves around 400 families each month.
On the first day of the drive, volunteers place brown paper bags with orange tags at the doorstep of over 6,000 residences. Residents are asked to fill the bags with their donations and leave them on their front steps by Monday at 9 a.m. to be collected by volunteers, who number in the hundreds.
Bag the Community is always held over Martin Luther King Jr. Weekend in the spirit of service. “It’s a day on, instead of a day off,” according to Tanya Kopec, a board member on the Bag the Community organizing committee.
“A lot of people are off that weekend, so I think it’s a good time to focus on others,” she said, adding that many food pantries are also depleted by the recent holiday season.
Kopec also noted that the food drive will benefit more people than ever this year.
“The need this year is just huge,” Kopek said. “There are cuts to other food programs, so there are more and more people running out of food — I’m sure everywhere.”
The drive is still seeking volunteers for a variety of tasks, including driving, bagging, boxing and sorting donations.
People from all walks of life make the drive possible, Kopek said, with volunteers including Mount Holyoke College students, high school and middle school students, teachers, sports teams and community members of all ages.
The pantry has a particular need for cereals such as Cheerios; canned proteins, soups and fruits; spaghetti sauce and other tomato products; cake and muffin mixes; and personal and household supplies.
While the pantry is facing a larger than usual challenge this year, Guarnera said that the community has always come together to help neighbors struggling with food security.
“It’s absolutely amazing to see it happen, and words don’t do it justice,” Guarnera said. “It’s something you have to see for yourself, because it’s just glorious.”
Located at 30 Carew St. in the United Methodist Church, the Neighbors Helping Neighbors Food Pantry is open Wednesdays from 12:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m., and 6 p.m to 7:30 p.m, and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to noon. The organization also offers a delivery service for those unable to go to the pantry in person.
Jacquelyn Voghel can be reached at jvoghel@gazettenet.com.