Last month the Jamieson Community Center Food Pantry saw a record 393 visits. As the community stepped up during the Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive, Executive Director Nancy Mowen shares the donations collected will last a couple of weeks as an average of 20 families per week are visiting the pantry, plus 70 students are served monthly at the Recharge Teen Center:
“Right now because of the demand, think of staples for your household. We try to focus on food that has good nutritional value; vegetables, fruits, whole grains, and proteins. We want to make sure that people have access to food that is going to help their food insecurity. Not only do we have the pantry at Jamieson, we also have a food pantry at Recharge Teen Center. We have about 70 kids visiting that each month. They are able to just go in as frequently as they want and select foods that they can prepare themselves, so we stock a little different in each pantry.”
Looking into the summer, Director Mowen informs the Summer Meals will be provided for this enrolled in summer school in the Monmouth-Roseville School District at Harding, also at Lincoln Homes, and those students attending the Recharge Teen Center.