CHILEKASI ADELE: ACROSS A DILAPIDATED PARK AND NOT FAR FROM DOWNTOWN SYRACUSE LIES A LIFELINE…
WORKER: HELLO, SALVATION ARMY FOOD PANTRY…
CHILEKASI ADELE: A BRICK BUILDING HELPING SOME OF ITS NEIGHBORS MOST IN NEED…
ANDREA FLETT: “I COME HERE ONCE, ONCE A MONTH…”
CHILEKASI ADELE: ANDREA FLETT LIVES ON SYRACUSE’S SOUTHSIDE AND HAS BEEN COMING HERE SINCE 19-98.
FLETT: “IT’S TOUGH — AT TIMES, ESPECIALLY WITH THE FOOD PRICES…”
ADELE: AND THAT RISE IN FOOD PRICES HASN’T JUST AFFECTED HER — BUT THE PLACE SHE’S COME TO RELY ON AS WELL…
PAM ALDERMAN SUPERVISES THE PANTRY — AND EVEN WITH THE GRANTS THEY GET AND THE DONATIONS THEY RECEIVE, BASICS ARE MUCH HARDER TO AFFORD NOW… AND IT COMES AS INFLATION IS BRINGING MORE PEOPLE IN…
PAM ALDERMAN:“THE COST OF THAT FOOD IN THE GROCERY STORE IS SIGNIFICANTLY HIGHER…”
ALDERMAN: “WE’VE BEEN SERVING PROBABLY CLOSE TO 200 MORE PEOPLE A MONTH, THAN WE WERE IN APRIL…”
ADELE: “THE PANTRY’S ESPECIALLY GRATEFUL FOR ANYTHING YOU BRING RIGHT NOW, BUT THERE ARE SOME THINGS THEY NEED EVEN MORE. THOSE INCLUDE THINGS LIKE JUICE, CANNED FRUITS AND VEGETABLES, AND RICE.” THAT’S WHY THE SALVATION ARMY IS HOLDING A DONATION DRIVE SATURDAY AT THE JMA DOME — IT, ALONG WITH S-U CALLING ON THE COMMUNITY TO HELP FIGHT FOOD INSECURITY…
ALDERMAN: “THAT ONE CAN OF FOOD CAN HELP — IT DOESN’T HAVE TO BE A LOT”
FLETT:“WITHOUT THE COMMUNITY’S HELP… WE WOULDN’T HAVE THE FOOD WE HAVE.”
ADELE: A CALL THAT ANDREA AND OTHERS WHO DROP BY ARE VERY APPRECIATIVE OF.
IN SYRACUSE, CHILEKASI ADELE — N-C-C NEWS.
SYRACUSE, N.Y. (NCC News) – Saturday’s Syracuse vs. Perdue football game will be an opportunity for Syracuse’s Salvation Army to replenish its’ stash of food.
According to 2020 U.S. Census data, Syracuse has a 30.3% poverty rate. According to the Census Bureau’s 2021 American Community Survey, the poverty rate skyrockets to 41.9% — nearly a 10 percent increase.
The socioeconomic status of many within nearly a third of the city, compounded with rising grocery prices due to inflation, has left shelves in some pantries partially depleted.
Eligible families are only given food once a month at the pantry, but the number of families coming has risen greatly.
“We’ve seen a huge increase, just since July, and that’s about a 200 people a month increase,” Pam Alderman, Supervisor of the Salvation Army of Syracuse Food Pantry said. “We’re serving over 1,000 people a month food at our pantry.”
Some of the lack of food on pantry shelves stems from the summer as well.
“When the schools were closed, the meal sites were closed, that’s when we saw a huge increase as well — families coming in to feed their children before they got back into the food programs,” Alderman said.
The Salvation Army of Syracuse is partnering with Syracuse University to collect items before Saturday’s football game. Alderman told NCC News that rice, pasta, canned fruit, canned vegetables, juice, and oatmeal are among some of the most-needed items on pantry shelves.
“Without the community’s help, we wouldn’t have the food we have,” patron Andrea Flett said.
