Back in the early days of Czar Ronnie, the Food Pantry Association formed. As Reagan scissored away at the safety net, good people about the region began or expanded efforts to feed the hungry.
Almost always there at meetings were friends from Overland Presbyterian Church. They endured, even after the church merged with Home Heights Presbyterian to become New Horizons Presbyterian Church.
While the congregation remained relatively small, the need for the pantry continued to grow. In 2016, they moved into larger space at the back of a strip mall: they had no choice. The number of people depending on them had soared. Renamed Ritenour Co-Care Food Pantry, they soon fed about 2,000 people each month. That rounds to 2% of all those fed by pantries each month in St. Louis County.
Alas, their doors may close forever next month.
Of course, all of us from the pantry world understand that it’s easier to find hungry people than it is to secure funds, food and helping hands. Amazingly, for decades this pantry survived with no paid staff and a small number of volunteers in a relatively meager community.
The Median Household Income for Overland (the core of the Ritenour School District area the pantry serves) is just $40,396, roughly $8,000 below the state median and left in the dust by Ladue ($182,875) – just a leisurely hour’s walk south of Overland. [ https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/laduecitymissouri,MO/INC110215 ]
Yes, finding struggling families in north central St. Louis County ought not surprise anyone. The Community Action Agency for St. Louis County is located in Overland and other non-profits dot the area for a very practical reason.
Yet, having a variety of service providers does not guarantee that all needs are met. While the greater St. Louis area has enough resources so that most all hungry people can get some food each month, every day scores of folks miss meals and many cannot get the healthy items they need. For example, the majority of pantries lack the refrigeration to handle more than token amounts of fresh produce. Protein often is in short supply and meeting the needs of diabetics or gluten intolerant clients can be impossible.
The situation in rural Missouri is often dire. Some communities lack the resources to provide any food to every hungry neighbor.
And, these are the good ole days.
In Washington, the Republican juggernaut slashes support for food stamps, heating grants and other basic needs in order to “pay for” tax cuts for the very wealthy. Along the Missouri River, the legislature couldn’t prevent the governor from taking help away from the old and disabled poor. As I’ve shared, the Department of Social Services – already on starvation rations – has been ordered to find another $30 million in ‘efficiencies.’
In other words, just as government works to make life harder for struggling people, those who try to ease that pain are themselves suffering.
As Rev. Marsha Brown at Ritenour Co-Care told The Riverfront Times, “To close at this time is incredibly hard because of the scare of losing health and losing food stamps…We hope to make a difference in giving a little bit of justice and a little relief from the toxic stress of poverty.” [ https://www.riverfronttimes.com/newsblog/2017/07/27/overland-food-pantry-serving-2000-could-close-next-month ]
Justice is another of those needs not being met.
Submitted by Glenn Koenen, WCD Member
Ritenour Co-Care Food Pantry https://www.ritenourcocare.org/