HOLYOKE, Mass. (WWLP) – Providence Ministries in Holyoke is facing a food shortage, now they are asking the local community for food donations.
It’s one of their neighborhood agencies, to find out what’s causing this food shortage and how you can help. Western Massachusetts has the highest rates of food insecurity in the state, and right now, places like Margaret’s Pantry are seeing an influx of people.
The amount of food insecure individuals and families outweigh the amount of people who sought help during the pandemic. The pantry serves homeless and low incomes populations in surrounding communities, but now they are seeing more working families and asylum seekers from Haiti, who are in need of extra assistance.
22News spoke with Jenni Adamczyk, the Executive Director at Providence Ministries who says
they’ve seen a 30 percent increase in comparison to last year. “We don’t have the capacity of the food right now to keep up with the demand that we have, were accessing all of our local partnerships with the food bank and we’re doing everything that’s in their power to help us as well, but there’s a large demand. And we can really use some help from the community.”
This past August, the Ministry served over 800 families in comparison to the 520 they served last year. They are hoping that local organizations schools or religious organizations can help by hosting an emergency food drive to help them gather food items
They also encourage those who can lend a hand, to donate non perishables, or even gift cards to help them feed those in need.
Melissa Torres is a reporter who has been a part of the 22News team since 2021. Follow Melissa on X @melissatorrestv and view her bio to see more of her work.
