On Thursday night, an emergency meeting was called for Gray County non-profit organizations, church leaders, schools, and business owners to come together and brainstorm and offer details about food pantries located in the county in an effort to help battle existing and impending food insecurity.
Due to the government shutdown, SNAP (supplemental nutrition assistance program) benefits, a federal program that provides a set monthly amount to help qualifying low-income families buy groceries that affects millions of Americans, has been indefinitely halted, resulting in those millions of Americans scrambling to find places they can go for assistance in their own towns.
Pampa High School Social Worker Suzanne Pingel and Salvation Army of Pampa Director Shelby Rivera organized the emergency meeting, and folks from all over Gray County came to aid in the cause.
Among those present were members of the Salvation Army, members of Altrusa, members of St. Paul United Methodist Church, Irvin Hall of Harvest House Ministry, Faustina Curry of PAWS, Troy McClendon of Pampa ISD and Snack Pack 4 Kids, members of PILC, Donna and Todd Carnagey of New Life Assembly of God, Jeremy Buck of Redeemer, Andy Biles of Highland Baptist Church, Kyle Collins of Cornerstone Baptist Church, Andrew Morris of Cyd’s Cafe, Alissha Jefferis of CASA, Jamisen Hancock of Briarwood, members of Panhandle Community Services, members of the Community Daycare Center, Samara Dyson who runs a 24-hour food pantry, and members from organizations in Lefors and McLean, just to name a few.
“The main goal of us calling this meeting is to make sure that we all know about the resources that we already have in town, to make sure that people have access to those resources, and to also let people know how they can donate to those resources,” Suzanne said. “It’s not to create a wheel, it’s not to create a new organization-we just want to share one document to our families, whether it be at the schools, at the church, or at another organization, all the different places in town that offer services, and how you’re funded and what resources you do get. That way when people do ask how they can donate, we will know what to tell them that you accept or who needs donations.”
Everyone in attendance spoke about what their business, organization or church provides to those in need, and mentioned other organizations that offer services that were not in attendance. They also brainstormed about how they could reach out to more residents who need help, organizing food drives, and emphasized the importance of communicating with each other during this crisis.
The impending shutdown of SNAP benefits has already impacted many of these places, and they’re doing what they can to help while still sustaining their operation.
Andrew Morris of Cyd’s Cafe recently started a donation chain to pay for kid’s meals, and in just a matter of a few days, over 300 kids in Gray County can enjoy a hot, free meal at his restaurant.
“About a week ago, something came to my heart and said, ‘we need to help the kids,’ and I’ve been blessed where I can do a lot more things in my life than others. So I wanted to do something as a restaurant owner to help my fellow citizens. Our kid’s meals are $6.99, and honestly I make no profit on the kid’s meals because it’s for them. I went ahead and made them $5 and have people donate if they wanted to. My thing is even if people don’t donate, I’m still going to help out and give out the kid’s meals. I will do this as long as I need to. I started this about four days ago and shared it on Facebook, and right now I have over 350 meals already paid for by donations, and it keeps growing. I want the people who need it to come up there and get it. I want the kids who are less fortunate to utilize what I have. We have chicken strips, burgers, mini corndogs-just something that’s fulfilling for them.”
Irvin Hall of Harvest House spoke about the increase in clients since the news, and for an organization who relies on donations and an outside food bank, they’re being stretched thin.
“Today, we’ve seen a 50% increase on the number of our clients, and we are afraid it’s going to get overwhelming. We fed 57 families, which is about 160 people just this morning. Ten of those who came in said they heard about the SNAP shutdown and they needed food now.”
Although food assistance is the top priority, the effect these insecurities have on people with pets is truly heartbreaking. Faustina Curry of PAWS spoke about how there are people who would rather go hungry than to see their beloved fur babies starve.
“We have a lot of people who come in to get food for their animals, and I think now, we’re going to have a lot more because they don’t want their animals to go hungry-for many of them, it’s their only companion. We give out tons of dog and cat food every week to people who walk in. Most of them give their own food to their animals, so we help them with that. We provide food for whoever says they need it for their animals.”
This eye-opening meeting brought many of Gray County’s best stewards of the community together to collaborate, discuss, and execute a plan for those who are most vulnerable to the unpredictable, and oftentimes frustrating, nature of government, and to ensure that they have all the help they need right here at home.
“We are called to give, not called to decide who gets it. Our job in what we have been called to do is to provide, and God will make the rest of it work out in the end,” Suzanne said.
Suzanne and Shelby are currently in the works in creating a detailed list of each church and organization who offer services, what the services are, locations, dates and times, and as soon as that list is made available, it will be accessible both in print and online. We are all in this together.
