INDEPENDENCE, MO (KCTV) -
An uptick in economic numbers has not yet trickled down to local food pantries where the need is greater than ever.
At the Salvation Army's Independence food pantry, a call for help filled bare shelves on Friday, but Maj. Butch Frost said the donations will likely last less than a week.
In the period from May to July, the Salvation Army saw a 62 percent increase in the use of its eight Kansas City area food pantries.
Only a small portion of that relates to school being out. The increase last year during that time frame was just 12 percent. That's according to figures released by the Salvation Army of Kansas and Western Missouri.
"Some of the same people we once saw sitting across the table from us to present us with a donation are now sitting across the table to request assistance," Frost said.
Some of those folks waited to deplete their savings before asking for help. Others are examples of underemployment.
"People have been laid off," Frost explains. "Maybe they got a job but now it's a low-paying job."
He said that's a scenario especially likely in manufacturing.
"People who have only a high school education," he added.
Frost said the need was particularly apparent at his location at in the 14700 block of East Truman Road, but just about every food bank is struggling to keep up with the need these days.
"This food here might last us two, maybe three days, and then it will be completely gone," he said. "And that's because the demands, the needs, are just continuously growing and growing and growing."
He said stories are heartbreaking.
"A mother and three children will come through the door and they've gotten bread or they've gotten sweets off the table and they'll sit in my lobby and the mom lets the kid sit down and have a snack and then says, 'OK, that's it. We've got to save the rest because this is our dinner.' That's where it gets you. That's where it hits you right you the heart," Frost said.
The Salvation Army hopes you will help out. They need inexpensive kids' meals like mac and cheese, peanut butter and spaghetti sauce. They ask residents to buy items on sale at their local grocery store. You can donate at your local Salvation Army food pantry or any of the area food pantries struggling to keep up with demand.
A list of all eight local Salvation Army food pantries is below:
- 6111 East 129th St., Grandview, MO
- 14700 East Truman Rd., Independence, MO
- 3013 East Ninth St., Kansas City, MO
- 6618 East Truman Rd., Kansas City, MO
- 5306 N. Oak Trafficway, Kansas City, MO
- 500 West 39th St., Kansas City, MO
- 6723 State Ave., Kansas City, KS
- 420 East Santa Fe, Olathe, KS
Copyright 2012 KCTV (Meredith Corp.) All rights reserved.
