Nelson County Food Pantry works to feed the hungry

Donna Taylor navigated a shopping cart filled to the brim with plastic bags of sweet potatoes through the bustling volunteers at the Nelson County Food Pantry Friday morning.

Despite the busy atmosphere, the approximate 40 volunteers smiled and socialized with each other as they gathered around the three long tables in the warehouse-style room, putting groceries in hundreds of brown paper bags. The bags were handed out on Saturday morning to about 300 Nelson County families.

“Everyone’s needing something,” Taylor said of her one and a half years of volunteering at the pantry. “There’s more and more people needing essential things, especially food. People forget we have this need in the county.”

Marian Dixon, the vice president of the Nelson County Food Pantry board, said the pantry is a real community effort. She said about 90 people volunteer each month including students from North Branch School, retired members of the county and even some of the clients who receive the food. The volunteers meet for three consecutive days a month, usually starting on the third Thursday with stacking the shelves with the donations. Friday is spent packing groceries, which are then distributed on Saturday.

The food pantry is run by volunteers where everything but the electricity bill, the insurance and the food is paid for out of the volunteers’ own pockets. JAUNT, the regional transportation system, also picks up community members and bring them to and from the food pantry at no cost to the client.

Several local businesses and organizations hold collections throughout the year to benefit the pantry, including farms donating produce and grocery stores giving left over food and baked goods. A recent collection was Bouncing for Turkeys at Devils Backbone Brewing Company, where people jumped on a trampoline for 24 hours to raise about $2,300. Other individuals are offering to match donations dollar for dollar.

This community effort was put to the test when the pantry discovered the fan in its freezer had broken last weekend and the 300 turkeys they had been storing had to be disposed of. A community member offered his refrigerated truck so the pantry could pick up the 300 turkeys they had on reserve for December at the Blue Ridge Area Food Bank.

“This is going to cost us a couple thousand dollars and who knows how much to fix the freezer,” Dixon said. “It just breaks my heart.”

The Nelson County Food Pantry has distributed 151,040 pounds of food to about 440 families, or 1,200 people, in Nelson County so far this year. On average, the pantry has about 260 families a month, or 650 individuals, with the busiest months in November and December. This month the pantry distributed 20,377 pounds of food, about 6,500 pounds less than last November when it gave out 26,855 pounds of food, Dixon said.

Melissa Wender, one of the volunteers from Afton, said she appreciates the donations but encourages people to donate money.

“It’s great when people give food donations but it’s even greater when they give monetary donations because the money goes so much further,” Wender said.

Dixon said the economy hasn’t really affected the food pantry with donations from grocery stores and individuals but it has affected the Blue Ridge Area Food Bank in Charlottesville, where the local volunteers buy a lot of the food for the pantry. Dixon said the food bank hasn’t received a lot of the food it needs and so the pantry buys from grocery stores. She added that the number of clients has slightly increased from the year before.

Dixon said the amount of people they help is apparent when the pantry distributes the groceries. “When people drive by and see the line on Saturday morning, people know we’re affecting a lot of people,” she said. “You can’t even get in the parking lot because we’re so busy.”

Each family receives cereal, rice, beans, baked goods and canned fruits and vegetables. They also get meat or fresh produce if it is available. At the November distribution on Saturday people received eggs, a turkey, sweet potatoes, potatoes, apples, carrots and turnips in addition to the usual groceries.

The food pantry was established in 1997 when local churches and citizens decided to create a central pantry to service the county, replacing the numerous smaller pantries in Nelson. In 2004 the pantry built their current 1,500 square foot building, at 9890 Thomas Nelson Highway in Lovingston, so they could better help the growing need in the county.

Dixon said she is very happy with the volunteers and the work the pantry is doing. “I think it’s probably one of the most rewarding volunteer activities that anyone can be involved in,” she said. “We have a lot of volunteers.”