One Year at the Pantry

If you walk into Interfaith Social Services’s food pantry on any given weekday, you’ll see a stack of prepared meals and perishables sitting on a large table to be given away during the day’s service hours. Because of their limited freshness window, these pre-made salads, quesadillas, and stroganoffs are the last in/first out of all the food at the Quincy, MA pantry. They are a result of food rescue, the South Shore pantry’s network of grocery stores that donate their ‘leftover’ stock at the end of the day. The system is built on remaining supply at local stores, and as such, it is subject to wild shifts in availability. Never was this more evident than exactly one year ago, March 2020, when the food pantry lost essentially all of its rescue supply after the rush on supermarkets as Covid-19 hit American shores. The lack of food was only part of the problem. Executive Director, Rick Doane, notes, “In one week, we lost 100% of our food rescue and 50% of all volunteers.”

Interfaith Social Services (ISS) is no stranger to adapting and overcoming. As emergency service providers, being able to meet the urgent needs of their community is core to who they are. They rose to the challenge and re-organized their process and client services for the new “normal.” What used to be a grocery shopping experience turned into a contactless, drive-through food distribution system; the children and family programs were reimagined; counseling and other services went virtual. “We used to be inefficient on purpose.” Doane reflects. The slow and individualized process gave staff and volunteers time to really check in with the clients- they could easily keep track of changes in family/household circumstances and they could connect them with other services as needed. The loss of that face-to-face interaction, though missed, was necessary. The new Covid-safe protocols not only impersonalized the process but also ramped up their capacity to meet what the staff was anticipating would be a large increase in need.

They were not wrong, but the increase wasn’t immediate. Quincy’s Chinese enclave is substantial, making up about 25% of the overall population (and a similar percentage of ISS’s clients); news of the virus and its deadly effect had traveled quickly through this community and as such, many of Interfaith’s Chinese clients chose not to visit in March of 2020. In fact, Doane describes the last two weeks of March 2020 as “eerily quiet.” And then, just like a hurricane, the calm passed and the storm came. And it hasn’t let up since.

I began working at ISS in April of 2020. Having just been furloughed, and ultimately let go, I was facing a lot of free time and looking to take action while everything felt terribly sad, scary, and out of control. Coming up on a year later, I have done the full spectrum of volunteer work at Interfaith, from shelf stocking and client engagement to holiday programs and more recently data analysis. The last being professional curiosity but also a desire to help bring better understanding to the information being collected. I was excited to do a deep dive into the numbers and offer insights on seasonality, forecasting, and daily efficiency. Throughout the process, we learned a lot about the trends of client assistance at ISS and how it has changed over the last 5 years. While all of that was interesting, what shocked me the most about the data was the sheer number of households served in 2020.

Even a cursory glance at the numbers for ISS show a staggeringly large increase in need from clients. For the first time ever, their daily average surpassed fifty and they saw over a thousand unique households in one month. It wasn’t just the basic milestones, the makeup of the clients shifted, there was a huge increase in new clients. In every year since 2016, the amount of clients utilizing the pantry that are newly registered hovers consistently around 25%. In 2020, that number was 38%.

Working in the check-in line every week, what I noticed was how many cars were multi-household and had a friend with them that needed to sign up. More back-and-forth communication was needed; and with that, an increased need for translators, resources, and food was felt on the ground week after week. I was told several times that “this was not normal” from long-time volunteers. Although there is usually an increase in food collection as summer moved to fall and then the holidays, 2020 was different. There were many fewer “slow days,” the ebb and flow of need throughout the month wasn’t playing out as it typically had in the past. This is also reflected in the data- in 2016–2019, the change in the daily average of households served from March to November was an increase of about six. In 2020, that number grew to twenty.

Thankfully, the increase in need has been met with an increase in community support. Interfaith’s donor pool has grown; small, medium, and large donations have increased. People have been randomly sending things from amazon and the thrift store continues to receive donations despite a brief closing. “We have seen amazing generosity” Rick explains, “the community has been great.” That being said, there are limits to what Interfaith can do. There is only so much space, so many volunteers, so many hours in the day, and unfortunately, all estimates show the issue of hunger and food insecurity increasing in the state and all over the United States. ISS is one part of an essential network of nonprofits and neighbors that envision a world where basic human needs are met.

As I have learned, re-learned, and repeated perhaps 1000 times in the last year, resilience is a community endeavor. It requires a constant churn of goodwill and a deep commitment to understanding and supporting the lives of those around you. It’s a safety net woven of individuals, families, organizations, and businesses joining together to say “we will not let each other fall, moreover we will empower and uplift each other.” It’s been a privilege to work at Interfaith during these times. I am both thankful to be a part of this engaged and impactful community, and also very aware that having the ability to be of service to one another is a sort of luxury. I have the space/time/energy to help out, I’m not worried about myself or my family’s immediate survival. But if I was, Interfaith would be there to support me, and for that, I am eternally grateful.

If you’re looking to help build your community resilience:

Look Local:

• There are nonprofits and community organizations in your area that could use your support. Spend 10 minutes today looking for a few that interest you, if not hunger, maybe literacy, housing, or other emergency services. Make a list of 3.

Do What You Can:

• This is a group effort! You don’t need to carry the load by yourself if all you can do this week is look at their website- great! If you can tell a friend about it- even better! Here are some ways you can show support:

> Voice/Network: You probably have social media in some form. Share those 3 organizations across your various platforms. Tag friends that you think might be interested in them. If you’re comfortable, post a link to donate or volunteer.

> Time/Labor: Do you have time? Or skills? Probably! Call/email the organizations you’re interested in and offer to help. If you’re a leader at your company- is there something your business could contribute?

> Money: Cash allows organizations like ISS to pivot quickly and respond to emergencies. After the run on grocery stores, they faced a 400% increase in money spent on fresh produce. Every little bit helps, even if it’s only $5.

> Material Goods: Many organizations take donations, call/email them to ask what they need, maybe you have it and can spare it? Remember that many food pantries don’t just serve food, they also need hygiene products, diapers, cat/dog food, and cleaning supplies.

Talk to your neighbors:

• When emergencies like natural disasters happen, your immediate community can be a great support network. Make sure you know people’s names, keep a (non-invasive) eye out for each other and try to think about your survival and success as a part of theirs.