Ortonville- With a failing state economy and many area families struggling to put food on the table, the Ortonville Community Emergency Fund is more crucial than ever.
OCEF Treasurer Margaret Lee knows the importance of keeping the food pantry going. What she doesn’t know yet is how to do that while the food supply of Gleaners Food Bank dwindles, down more than 1.5 million pounds of food from last year. OCEF purchases heavily discounted food from Gleaners and passes it on to needy families. Lee hopes the local community can step forward to help.
‘We’ll make it happen and figure out a way,? she said. ‘Gleaners is our major source of food and while we won’t have to spend more money, the amount of service we give will decrease. Our problem is we need to stay in business and we’re only capable of spending so many dollars per month. We’ve been able to leverage our dollars by buying food from the food bank. It’s extremely cheap.?
However, Gleaners recently announced they have just three weeks? worth of food left to supply to more than 400 soup kitchens, shelters, churches and pantries like OCEF. The food bank is seeking donations to increase their supply of food to 2 millions pounds by Thanksgiving.
OCEF operates with a budget of $4,000 per month, Lee says, with donations from businesses and individuals and support from area churches that include St. Anne Church (where OCEF is based), Ortonville United Methodist Church, Seymour Lake United Methodist Church, Mt. Bethel United Methodist Church, Lake Louise Church of the Nazarene, Prince of Peace Lutheran, Christ the Shepherd Lutheran Church and Ortonville Baptist Church.
From the $4,000, $1,600 are given to clients via vouchers to Bueche’s Food World, about $700 is given in vouchers to Cook’s Farm Dairy, and the rest is used to purchase food from Gleaners. Without Gleaners, Lee said OCEF may be able to buy in bulk from Bueche’s when they have sales to get the lowest prices possible on some items, but the variety will be very restricted.
‘We have to do our best to muddle through,? Lee said. ‘We won’t be able to give as much food to each family… One of the things I find so amazing about OCEF is we’ve never had to turn anyone away and I think that’s just short of miraculous. Ortonville is a marvelous community.?
Currently, OCEF has registered about 112 families for the Thanksgiving food and Christmas food and gift distributions.
‘Some people say they’re having a hard time, but they know others are having a harder time,? said Judy Henley, OCEF food pantry director. ‘They really stretch to make donations, because they know what hard times are like. There are people in our community who will only be able to celebrate the holidays with a full table and gifts through the generosity of their neighbors. Please be generous, we can’t help our neighbors without your generosity. Thank you.?