Molly Penderville, Basic Needs Director
As SHIM’s basic needs director, I see firsthand the struggles families face putting food on the table. Since becoming an AmeriCorps member with SHIM in 2014, I’ve watched pantry attendance grow every year, especially the last five.
I see a lot of people who qualify for our services but feel embarrassed asking for help. It is clear that they are doing everything they can to keep up with the high cost of living. I’ve learned from some of the seniors we serve how much harder it is for them to adapt to a change in income. When you’re young, you can be more flexible in finding employment. As you get older, especially if you are facing health challenges, finding employment can be extremely difficult. This leaves seniors particularly vulnerable to economic hardship.
Even through the coronavirus pandemic, the demographics of pantry participants have been consistent. We meet a lot of families who are working at least one job, sometimes two, and we meet a lot of seniors and people with disabilities who are living on fixed incomes. Many people are surprised to learn that only 10 percent of pantry participant households are unemployed, and many times, these participants are in between jobs and actively looking for work.
If there was one thing positive that came from the pandemic, it’s the destigmatization around asking for help. As numerous people faced job losses, work stoppages, and school closures, there seemed to be an acceptance that everyone faces hard times and needs help sometimes. Regardless of income and education, everyone was struggling. The rising cost of food was also a shared experience, which allowed people to feel less alone in their plight. When everyone is experiencing sticker shock at the grocery store it helps reduce stigma around food insecurity.
I have also noticed a generational difference where seniors sometimes feel more embarrassed asking for help. Part of my job here is letting people know that it’s ok to need help. If we can help you with food, that lessens your burden keeping up with other bills. 
Many of the working families we serve are stuck in the gap where they make too much money to receive benefits but still don’t make enough to keep up with the current cost of living. Most live between 150-200% of the Federal Poverty Line (FPL). For a family of four, the FPL is $31,200, which means 150% of FPL is still only $46,800. Can you imagine finding housing and feeding a family of four for under $50,000 without needing help these days? Even The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TFAP), which used to be based on 150% of FPL recently raised their eligibility to 185% of FPL, recognizing the increased cost of living.
Over the past decade, we’ve worked to bring nutritious food to our pantry participants. We’ve heard that people struggle accessing staples like fresh produce and dairy products. Thanks to our partnership with the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank (GPCFB), we’re able to provide consistent access to produce, milk, eggs, cheese, and meat. Many of these items are subsidized by the federal government through the department of agriculture, and SHIM receives a lot of these items for free from the Food Bank. Our 14 Community Gardens also provide 17,000 pounds of fresh produce for our pantries. Especially for pantry participants with chronic health issues, accessing nutritious foods is vital to their well-being.
During my time at SHIM, food pantry operations have expanded significantly to meet the growing needs of the South Hills community. When I started, we picked up food in a cargo van and were unable to get a lot of produce or dairy products, due to space constraints. After purchasing a box truck in 2020, we increased our capacity and now pick up 8-9,000 pounds of food from the GPCFB six times per month, allowing us to prioritize healthy staples. This increased capacity helps us consistently offer items that pantry participants need.
On the flip side, our in-kind donations from the community, almost 200,000 pounds per year, offer variety. We receive gluten-free items, ethnic food items, and seasonal items from generous donors. We also bolster our supply of much needed items (find a list HERE) thanks to generous food donation drives hosted by individuals, businesses, and community groups.
We rely on partnerships with local grocery stores, arranged by GPCFB, to receive additional items. For years, we’ve been rescuing food from Giant Eagle, Aldi, Whole Foods, and Fresh Market. We also receive regular donations from Sam’s Club and 412 Food Rescue. These donations increase the variety of food offerings available at our distributions.
As we look to adapt to the needs of our community, we’ve focused more on accessibility. Even as we serve 4,000 people per month at our food pantry distributions, we know there are still more who need our help. Before the pandemic, we offered transportation to our food pantries, but this still required people to be able to get in and out of our van. As home delivery became the norm for all services during the pandemic, we began to offer pantry delivery to homebound clients. Thanks to an amazing volunteer workforce we have been able to deliver to 100 households each month. We also received funding from generous donors to invest in food lockers which will allow us to provide help to folks who can’t attend during our regular distribution hours.
Right now, there’s uncertainty about how funding changes may affect local food banks. Charitable food programs are run by the Department of Agriculture and are beneficial to both farmers and families facing food insecurity. If GPCFB faces drastic cuts to their funding sources, we will feel ripple effects.
One thing that is certain is that we always need help from the community. Whether it is a cub scout troop hosting a food drive or a donor contributing financially to help us purchase food, every bit helps our neighbors. The pandemic halted large scale food drives and we’re still trying to rebuild that in-kind donor support network. I hope schools, community groups, and businesses reading this post will feel inspired to host a donation drive! (You can find more information about getting started on our Host A Drive page.)
The wonderful thing about the South Hills is how involved our neighbors are in caring for one another. Our 300+ volunteers do everything they can to offer support to struggling families. I’m grateful to be part of this amazing team of neighbors helping neighbors, and I encourage you to learn more and join us!
Learn more about how to help on our Donate page.
