Cars no longer back up on Interstate 65 waiting in line at the Metropolitan United Methodist Church’s food bank in Montgomery, but Pastor Richard Williams says he’s still serving as many households as he did during the height of the pandemic.

Multiple nearby food banks have closed in the last few months due to inflation and a lack of funding, Williams said, leaving the Beacon Center, which opened in 2022, to pick up the burden. As the holidays approach, Williams and his network of supporters have to find a way to double the amount of food they’re giving out.

“We’re still experiencing that same volume but with less resources and support,” Williams said. “If what it looks like right now is a preview of what Christmas looks like, our volume of food is going to have to literally almost double. And we’ve already done a 40 to 50% increase in acquiring more food.”

The center, located next to the Methodist church on Gaston Avenue in Montgomery’s west side neighborhood, provides wrap-around services like GED training programs, STD screenings, counseling and food boxes.

“We exist to remove barriers for our neighbors so they can have a better life,” said Williams. “And so for us, food is our number one access point.”

He estimated that nearly 400 households a week come through needing help with food assistance, with 20 new households a day coming to the center to receive services for the first time.

To offset costs, the Beacon Center has begun partnering with companies like Winn-Dixie, Walmart and Starbucks to recover food that stores haven’t sold, allowing volunteers to provide fresh produce and frozen meat along with dry goods in their food boxes.

“We are literally calling farms trying to recover food from farms in a greater way,” he said. “You know, we’re working to try to meet other partners who are in food to be able to work together in a stronger way, and just trying to find other ways to make things happen.”

This year will be the first holiday season since 2020 without pandemic programs such as increased SNAP and WIC benefits, free, universal school meals and P-EBT, which helped people buy food and decreased rates of hunger nationwide as inflation and supply chain disruptions made food more scarce and expensive.

Between 2021 and 2022, childhood food insecurity across the country skyrocketed due to the end of these federal programs and the expanded child tax credit, experts say.

According to a United States Department of Agriculture report released last month, the rate of food insecurity in houses with children increased from 13% in 2021 to 17% percent the following year. Feeding American estimates about 13 million children in the United States don’t know where their next meal is coming from.

“We know how to end child hunger in this country. We were making progress before the pandemic started, and once it hit, we mitigated what could have been a massive and long-lasting hunger crisis because of smart investments in critical government programs. All of that progress has been eroded since those investments have been rolled back. Kids and families deserve better,” said Lisa Davis, senior vice president of Share Our Strength and the No Kid Hungry campaign, in a statement.

According to a statement responding to the report’s findings, USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack said more than half of the families who are food insecure reported using the expanded federal assistance programs.

“The report is the latest piece of evidence that as the pandemic began to wane in 2022, another public health concern—food insecurity—increased,” Vilsack said. “The experience of the pandemic showed us that when government invests in meaningful support for families, we can make a positive impact on food security, even during challenging economic times.”

In Alabama, one in five children experience food insecurity.

The USDA report shows that the state has been able to decrease household food insecurity by more than 5% over the last decade, but those numbers aren’t reflected in the everyday realities seen by Williams and other local organizations on the front lines of hunger.

“We have people that need food every day and come in and ask for it. People still aren’t working and there is still a tremendous need,” said Claire Smith, director of missions and social services at the First United Methodist Church in Montgomery, which partners with the Beacon Center and refers people looking for meals to their site.

Feeding Alabama, a network of food banks and agencies across the state, has developed an online database that allows people to find locations where they can get free meals and food assistance near their address.

The organization’s website, as well as the Beacon Center, also provides benefit enrollment assistance to help people determine whether they’re eligible for programs like SNAP or WIC and then assist in the application.

“We know there are more people showing up to our food banks and there are more people who have to show up more often,” said Laura Lester, CEO of Feeding Alabama. “It’s folks who are just not able to fully make ends meet right and are frequently working families or seniors or folks with a disability who just can’t quite make it to the end of the month and that need continues to grow. There’s a steady rise, a steady rise.”

Lester said she’s hopeful that the skyrocketing rate of childhood food insecurity will be able to level off if more government policies are enacted, like the upcoming farm bill which legislates food policy in the country and nutrition assistance programs.

“I worry that there might be even additional restrictions put on SNAP benefits in the farm bill, but I’m always hopeful that we can continue to advocate and the SNAP program will be strengthened in the Farm Bill and that our commodities program will be strengthened,” said Lester. ” I do think that there have been some lessons that we’ve taken from the pandemic where we learned [certain food programs] are good and work and help keep kids fed…so that gives me hope.”

In the meantime, Williams and other organizations will still rely on donations and generosity of people around the state to keep programs running.

“I think wherever they’re located, if they’ll support those who are doing the work and who are on the front line, I think it’d be very beneficial to our community,” said Williams. “And then also to know that they can make a difference in their community by giving an hour, donating, and different things of that nature are really critical things that can help organizations like ourselves, not just be here and try to survive, but actually thrive.”

Resources:

To support or access the Beacon Center, call 334-263-0950 or email [email protected].

For help finding food pantries, visit Feeding Alabama.

For help signing up for SNAP or other benefit programs, chat with an outreach specialist.

For information on how to donate to your local food bank, visit Feeding Alabama.

For information on how to volunteer at your local food bank, visit Feeding Alabama.