LOGAN, Utah — The Cache Community Food Pantry is preparing to feed more families who might be in need and is asking for the community’s help.
As one of the longest federal government shutdowns in U.S. history continues, the food pantry is anticipating higher demands with every passing day.
"I knew it wouldn’t happen right away, but last week I had my very first family come in to apply for help because they didn’t have a paycheck,” said Matthew Whitaker, executive director of the Cache Community Food Pantry. “And we had a couple more this week, and the longer it goes, the more I anticipate coming in. One of the scary bits of news I heard is if it goes past Nov. 1, food stamps will cease to go out, and so at that point, we're going to see a lot of families coming in asking for help."
Whitaker has been with the pantry for over 20 years. He said in the last few years, they have seen an increase in the number of people seeking help.
“We see people who have lost their jobs, we see people who are still working, but it’s just not stretching enough, and we're now seeing middle-class families looking for help,” he said.
Santiago and his wife came to the pantry for the first time on Tuesday to get produce, milk, snacks for their kids, protein and other essentials.
"Financially, I’m struggling with bills and stuff, so the pantry helps out a lot,” he said. "Times are getting hard, prices on everything are rising, so any help that people can get, it goes a long way."
Whitaker explained that for families who don’t qualify for SNAP benefits, but still need help, this food pantry is the only place they can go to in Cache Valley. But if the shutdown continues for over a week and a half, even those families will have to rely on the pantry. So Whitaker is asking for donations so they can meet that potential demand.
"If you have some donations available at home that you can afford to give us, if there’s a case lot sale, for example, buy an extra case and bring it down. We're asking for anything to do with Thanksgiving dinner,” said Whitaker.
You can also donate money to the pantry on their website: cachefood.org/donate, and they will buy what they need to feed families.
"You know, you might think, 'My dollar or my 5 dollars isn’t much.' But you don’t know how many people are donating just a dollar or 5 dollars. It adds up,” said Whitaker.
