Deacon Irma Bahr-Madrid could spend her weekends doing anything, but she’s spent them, for years, helping people in need at the food pantry at Newburgh’s Good Shepherd Episcopal Church.
She says no one should go without a meal; something that motivates her to do it every week.
She says the need this time of year has skyrocketed. The tables at the pantry used to seat around 60-70 people per weekend; now they're up to nearly 150 people.
What You Need To Know
- Local food pantries say demand is up, and is only expected to rise during the holiday season
- Pantries and food banks are dealing with increased demand while also encountering supply chain and inflation issues
- Data from Hunger Solutions New York shows 1 in 10 households statewide deals with food insecurity
This need is being felt by food pantries across the state. Food prices are going up while supply chain issues are making some favorite food items scarce. Data from Hunger Solutions New York shows 1 in 10 households statewide deals with food insecurity.
Bahr-Madrid says generous donations and help from the Food Bank of the Hudson Valley keeps things going. Despite the generosity, sometimes even the most basic items can be scarce.
“Sometimes even bread is hard to get," Bahr-Madrid said. "We have to go buy it. We used to walk into the food bank and there’d be racks and racks and racks of bread. No, no.”
Sara Gunn, the director of the Food Bank of the Hudson Valley, says the economics are affecting them, too.
“The supply chain issues and the driver shortages and the food processing workers, that all plays into all the problems we’ve all been seeing in the supermarkets as far as demand," Gunn said.
To compensate, she says they’ve asked for more volunteers to help sort foods and get them out faster, so it doesn’t spoil. They’ve also gotten creative, having others help to keep the shelves stocked.
“Right now, we’re in need of peanut butter, we’re in need of rice," Gunn said. "West Point just did a food drive for us, they said, ‘what do you need?’
“Well, we’ll tell them, ‘we need rice; we need peanut butter; we need this.’ And they’ll make that clear in their food drive.”
The work won’t stop for the deacon. She says as long as people need help getting food on the table, she’ll be there.
“They don’t go home to refrigerators full of food," she said. "So those little extra calories to have is good.”