Record numbers flock to food pantry

Jeff Stark is on a quest for food for the Benton-West City Ministerial Alliance food pantry. Elected in June as board treasurer, he said July was a record month.

“The food pantry served 175 families during the month of July,” Stark said. “That is almost 500 people, which was a record for us. The economy is affecting everyone. The food supplier, St. Louis Food Bank, is really hurting because more and more people are asking for food. When the food bank has supplies, we receive food at 10 cents per pound. We want as much bang for the buck as we can get.

“I am taking my truck to the Bread of Life food bank in Lynnville, Ind., this week to see if they can help us pick up the slack in food supplies,” Stark said. “The food bank in Lynnville donates food to other communities based on the number of people who walk through the door for food.”

Stark said donations to the Ministerial Alliance food pantry are also on the decline.

“We still receive monetary donations and are buying food when we can, but those donations have dropped,” he said. “People just can’t afford to contribute like they did before the price of gasoline went up, causing increases in everything else. The food pantry continues to receive help from the churches and businesses.”

He arrived in Benton in July 2007 to assume the role of pastor of First Church of the Nazarene.

“This is my fourth church,” Stark said. “I pastored the Urbana Faith Church of Nazarene for eight years and was in Mansfield for five years and three years in Louisa, Ky., before that.

“I like Benton,” he said. “I was in the Champaign-Urbana area and things are more rushed. Benton is more laid back and the weather is warmer. It is surprising just how much difference being three hours south can make, as far as the weather goes.”

Stark and his wife, Debbie, have four children: Jennie, 21, a freshman at Olivet Nazarene University in Bourbonnais; Jeff Jr., 19, a sophomore at the university; Jeremiah, 17, a junior at Benton Consolidated High School; and Micaela, 11, who turns 12 next month, a sixth-grader at Benton Middle School.

“I was elected by pastors of the Ministerial Alliance as treasurer after David Hultberg announced that he was moving,” Stark said. “The biggest need the food pantry has right now is food. Before I arrived in Benton, Vicki Seagle, food pantry coordinator, said the warehouse was usually stocked almost to the rafters with food from the St. Louis Food Bank. That is no longer the case. There are lines of empty boxes and food supplies have dropped by more than half.”

Stark said a recent food drive did little to help fill shelves.

“A local television station and Save-A-Lot teamed up to provide food for the area food pantries,” he said. “The Benton Save-A-Lot was a drop-off point. There was very little food in the box and not much to go around at the end of the food drive.”

He said Seagle keeps a list of what is most needed. “Vicki said we need canned sweet and white potatoes, beans of any kind, peas, beets, mixed vegetables, pork and beans and Ramen noodles,” Stark said. “The food pantry has been out of Ramen noodles for almost three months.

A lot of people rely upon Ramen noodles to help supplement their diets. The cash contributions we have received went to purchase canned meats and tuna. We were down to nothing on the shelves.”

Stark said the school supply drive is also coming up short.

“We have less than half of the school supplies that were received last year,” he said. “We received some cash donations and will be buying more school supplies this week. Vicki also has a list of school supplies needed. We need boxes of 24-count crayons, blunt tip scissors, 200-count packages of paper, watercolor paint sets, pencil boxes, tissues, paper towels, rulers that have inch and metric measurements and glue sticks. We will be accepting school supplies through Friday, Sept. 5. They will be delivered to the schools the following week.”

Seagle said she is begging for donations.

“Food supplies have gotten so low in the Ministerial Alliance food pantry that we are now begging residents for food to help feed the growing number of people who come through the door,” she said. “Volunteers Julie Murphy, Phyllys Jones and James Smith do receive monetary contributions from people who bring checks and cash through the door and those with gardens and farms are extremely generous. They bring in fresh produce almost daily, but we have no way to keep it refrigerated so it has to move quickly or it will spoil.”

Monetary donations may be mailed to BWCMA, P.O. Box 934, Benton, IL 62812. Food and school supplies may be delivered to the food pantry, located at 320 S. Main St., Benton.