‘Where your faith really comes in’: Food pantries in Central Arkansas feeling effects of shutdown

Pallet jacks honked and forklifts whirred by, racing up and down aisles of towering shelves so the workers controlling them could pack trucks for delivery to food pantries that keep some of Arkansas’ neediest from going hungry.

“It’s like Dancing with the Stars,” Arkansas Foodbank Marketing and Communications Director Kate Jenkins remarked on Tuesday, raising her voice to be heard as two pallet jacks zoomed past, honking repeatedly.

This practiced, consequential dance takes place inside the food bank’s 99,000-square-foot Little Rock warehouse every day and enables the organization to push millions of pounds of food out to food pantries across 33 counties. It’s even more important now, as multiple Arkansas food pantries that rely on food from Arkansas Foodbank see surges in demand from some of the state’s most food-insecure residents.

Officials at three food pantries — two in Little Rock, one in Cabot — reported spikes in demand in recent weeks as those who normally receive federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits steeled themselves for possibly losing the help due to the congressional spending impasse, a first in the program’s history. While the pantry workers said they’ve seen some furloughed federal workers, the demand appears to be driven by those who already struggle to afford food in a state already ranked as the most food insecure.

What the pantries need

The Advocate asked each of the three food pantries what they would get if a truck magically arrived with the things they needed most. These are their answers:

• Helping Hand of Greater Little Rock: Peanut butter, macaroni and cheese and canned goods. Executive Director Margaret Douglas also said she is constantly fielding calls from people worried about how they will celebrate Thanksgiving later this month. “I would welcome a truck from Tyson to bring me a truckload of turkeys to give out,” she said.
• Salvation Army of Little Rock: Shelf-stable foods, dry goods, meat products. “We’re running low on canned goods,” Central Arkansas Commander Kenny Igleheart said.
• Hope’s Closet and Pantry: Canned vegetables, and breakfast items and snacks for children.

People can donate to each food pantry via their websites, linked above.  Those who need assistance finding food can search for food pantries near them on Arkansas Foodbank’s website.

Meanwhile, Gavin Lesnick, a spokesperson for the Arkansas Department of Human Services, said the agency has received guidance from the U.S. Department of Agriculture on paying out partial food assistance benefits after federal courts ruled that failing to use contingency funds to pay November benefits during the shutdown was likely unlawful.

After the court rulings, USDA said Monday it would pay each enrolled household half of what it would normally receive. But the payments still haven’t gone out in Arkansas, and it isn’t clear when they will.

“We are reviewing this information and developing plans to provide these benefits as soon as possible,” Lesnick said in an email. “We will need to recalculate benefit amounts for all recipients, and cannot yet advise a date when benefits will be issued.”

While the funds remain in limbo, Arkansas Foodbank has kept supplying pallets of food to food pantries across the state, such as Helping Hand of Greater Little Rock. Executive Director Margaret Douglas said her pantry hosted Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders during its Tuesday morning distribution and then had to turn families away after they ran out of items to give out.

“We had 75 people waiting outside the door at 9 o’clock this morning for food,” Douglas said Wednesday. “Normally we run between 80 to 100. Today, we had 112 families, and it’s been that way all week.”

Arkansas Foodbank can’t supply its food pantries with the amounts of food they would need to fully address the need created by the SNAP delays, Jenkins said. The nonprofit would have to distribute three times more than it already does in a single day to do so.

“The charitable food system just doesn’t have the structure for that, even if we had infinite amounts of money,” Jenkins said. “We have some families that have been turned away because there’s not enough food left that day.”

Arkansas Foodbank is better off than some — it only relies on federal funds for about 15% of its needs. But the increased demand — almost double what they typically face, Jenkins said — is still far beyond what they can supply.

“We’re seeing a COVID-level demand, and we don’t have a COVID-level amount of funding because a lot of it came from the federal government,” Jenkins said.

The shutdown is greatly affecting people, Helping Hand’s Douglas said. The pantry gives out enough food to each family to last seven to ten days “if they know how to really stretch the food,” but it’s struggling to meet the demand for meat products.

“We try to give meat, but we’re having to stretch our meat now,” Douglas said. “Yesterday, we ran out of meat.”

After cutting off distribution at 100 families on Tuesday, Douglas said she was able to go “a little over that” on Wednesday. What would happen when distribution began Thursday was an open question.

“Tomorrow, I do have some meat to start tomorrow off with, but that’s it,” Douglas said. “We’re here, and we’re doing what we can, and distributing. It’s where your faith really comes in, and I have to pray a lot.”

Kenny Igleheart, the Central Arkansas commander of the Salvation Army, said 50% to 75% of the people arriving at its food pantry in Little Rock recently “have never been here before.”

“Most have been local residents whose benefits have been curtailed,” Igleheart said. “It’s been a challenge, it’s been a significant increase over what we had previously.”

While giving the Advocate a tour of the Arkansas Foodbank’s cavernous warehouse, Jenkins said it was hard to drive home the staggering needs created by the SNAP delay for most people.

“I don’t think people understand that there is literally no way for us to meet this very immediate need,” Jenkins said.

Some states, like Louisiana and Virginia, are planning on spending millions to shore up their state’s SNAP recipients until Congress funds the program.

Sanders announced $500,000 in emergency funds last week, which was split between six food banks, including Arkansas Foodbank. Additional pots of $500,000 could be released each week if deemed necessary, a press release from her office said at the time.

“The Governor is in close contact with state agencies, legislators, churches, and food banks to monitor the ongoing situation, and all options remain on the table should Senate Democrats continue their government shutdown,” Sanders spokesperson Sam Dubke said in an email Wednesday.

Some Arkansas Democrats have called on Sanders to declare a disaster to pay SNAP benefits, but it is unclear if the state law allows for disaster funds to be used to provide food assistance payments.

In the meantime, pantries are trying to meet hungry Arkansans’ needs.

Kimberly Buchberger, founder, owner and director of Hope’s Closet and Pantry in Cabot, said her food pantry has seen a 50% increase in families showing up to distributions — 109 families came to the pantry by midday Wednesday and 142 came on Tuesday. And recently, around 25% of the people coming to the pantry had never sought out help from one before, she said.

The spike started last week. But this week has been harder.

“It hit us hard this past Tuesday,” Buchberger said. “I had two ladies tell me today, ‘I get food stamps, but I’ve never had to come to a food pantry before. This is my first time.’ And I’m like, ‘Welcome to our organized chaos.’”

Her food pantry is well-prepared for the additional demand, she said, and she has not yet needed to turn anyone away. Buchberger said she’s told neighbors to pay their bills, and that she would help them find ways to feed themselves with whatever money they had leftover.

Buchberger said she started a sponsorship program, similar to the Angel Tree program, last week to address the increased need in her community. One hundred families applied, she said, and more sponsors are needed.

Buchberger said she is taking each day as it comes.

“I’m not going to worry and I’m not going to stress because I believe in Jesus,” Buchberger said. “I’m going to take care of today, and I’m going to pray for tomorrow.”