By Lea Kahn, Staff Writer
One recent Monday morning at HomeFront, staff members had the unenviable task of turning away clients who had come to the agency’s Princeton Pike headquarters in search of food.
Connie Mercer, the executive director of the nonprofit agency, did not feel good about it. The clients were told that food would not be available from HomeFront’s pantry until later in the week.
”The numbers are up and the resources are down” — that’s how Ms. Mercer summarized recent trends at HomeFront. There are more clients seeking help, and fewer people donating goods or money to buy them, she said.
In September 2007, there were 823 requests for assistance, Ms. Mercer said. This past September, there were 1,221 requests. In October 2007, there were 954 requests and last month there were 1,293 requests. The numbers have been going up, but they have “really spiked” in the last six weeks, she said.
”We have never had our food pantry this empty in November,” Ms. Mercer said. “We are afraid we are going to have to turn hungry people away. Last year, we gave out Thanksgiving baskets to over 1,300 families. This year, we have many more requests from desperate people and less food baskets pledged for donation.”
Ms. Mercer said more unemployed people and senior citizens are turning up on HomeFront’s doorstep than ever before. There are also more “working poor” families, she said. A parent may have been holding down two jobs to make ends meet, but now one of those jobs has ended.
Another factor may be the increase in rents imposed by public housing authorities, which is putting pressure on the residents’ budgets, she said.
”The rents have not gone up significantly,” Ms. Mercer said, “but (a) $15 or $20 (increase) is enough to throw the incredible balancing act these folks have to do completely asunder.”
”It is the most hideous feeling in the world to turn folks away who come to you because they are hungry. It’s not like sending them elsewhere. Everybody is hurting,” she said.
HomeFront screens applicants who seek help from its food pantry to ensure they are financially eligible, she said. It also takes steps to make certain that would-be clients are registered for food stamps and that the children are enrolled in the schools’ free lunch program.
HomeFront depends on a variety of sources for its food, including the Mercer Street Friends agency. It also relies on school food drives, but many school groups are not collecting as much food as in the past, Ms. Mercer said. She speculated that those families also are affected by the economic downturn.
Ms. Mercer said that while donations of food is appreciated, donations of cash is preferable. The money allows HomeFront to purchase the food that it needs for the food pantry. It allows the agency access to other food banks and food wholesalers.
”We can make the money go further,” she said. “Money donated specifically for our food pantry is a glorious thing.”
But if donors want to contribute food instead of money, Ms. Mercer requested that the donated items be protein items, such as cereal, tuna fish or peanut butter. There is no need to buy a turkey for Thanksgiving, she said.
Ms. Mercer also encourages donors to think beyond Thanksgiving. While the gesture is appreciated, she said, families have to eat on Friday and Saturday and beyond. Hunger does not end on Thanksgiving Day.
For more information on donating food or money, contact Laura at HomeFront at 609-989-9417, ext. 118 or go to HomeFront’s Web site, www.homefrontnj.org.
