March 2025 St Joseph Food Pantry Report

March 2025:  Households Served –675; Individuals Served – 2610

St. Joseph Food Pantry welcomed 2,610 food-insecure neighbors in March: 858 of those receiving food were children and 410 were over the age of 65. Catholic Charities and All Saints Parish supplied diapers for babies, young children and needy adults. St. Mark’s Parish distributed approximately 60 green bags of personal items and cleaning supplies. Staff try to randomize the times of distribution of these celebrated bags so that different households receive them each month. The sharing table was restocked each week in March with warm and like new clothes, household items and toys for children. This month featured a few larger baby items like a Pack n Play. Monetary donations from local parishes in the Cape Fear Deanery including St. Therese and All Saints enabled the volunteers to discreetly give a food or medicine gift cards to families in extreme need.

The people who enter the pantry doors each week inspire and touch the hearts of volunteers. They come, receive a friendly welcome, and sometime trust volunteers with their individual stories. Faye is one of many senior visitors, who struggles to survive in the current economy on a monthly Social Security check of a little more than $1,000. Faye worked for a company in Wilmington for approximately 43 years, but did not receive a pension. Small and fragile with beautiful white hair, Faye has reached the age of 84 and moves slowly with her cane to the first available chair. She is noticeably stressed this month. Faye lives in a mobile unit with apparently poor insulation. February’s frigid temperatures resulted in an unprecedented $300 electric bill. Pantry volunteers unsuccessfully reached out to Social Service and Catholic Charities for help with the bill. At the end of March, a new month was added to the bill increasing the amount owed to $600. We are presently counseling Faye to request a payment plan from the Utility Co. which usually precedes a potential cancellation of power. Hopefully, we will find a way to help Faye work through the payment plan.

Jorge visited the Food Pantry for the first time last Thursday. He is a farm worker who has been working in the US for approximately 3 years during which time he learned English. His language skills are extraordinary. Jorge lives with his wife and children. He is one of St. Joseph’s many guests who labor in neighboring farms and food processing plants. They are paid as contracted workers without benefits. Low weekly wages of approximately $300 do not allow them to prepare for unworkable weather conditions, sickness or injury. Jorge suffered a severe stroke last year and can no longer work in the fields. Unable to pay rent, he had to move his wife and 2 children, ages 3 and 14 to a rented room in a mobile home. They share the kitchen and bathroom with the other occupants. The rent for this one room is $700. After hearing his story and providing Jorge with food and gift cards, we advised him to visit St. Mary’s outreach when Patricia, our director, would be there to help him find some assistance. It is possible that the extensive Spanish outreach program at St. Mary’s will offer guidance on how to access resources for the financial recovery of Jorge and his family. 

Later in the afternoon we spotted Tiara in the hall. She had positioned herself diagonally in a back row chair, unable to sit because of the proximity of her baby’s delivery. Tiara is a single mother, 31 years old with no income and appeared to be hours away from the birth of her first child. Tiara did not report any other support nor any dependents. Volunteers reassured Tiara, gave her food, diapers and prayers for a safe delivery. She was way too uncomfortable to delay with conversation for a detailed story. Hopefully, Tiara will return to St. Joseph’s in April with a healthy baby. 

The work at St. Joseph’s Food Pantry is only possible because of our many volunteers and generous neighbors. We would like to thank you for your critical support in this shared outreach.  At the close of each Thursday, volunteers feel privileged to have been entrusted with stories. We mentally braid new stories with others shared by previous guests to form a living cord that connects us with our Creator. We share them with you and ask that you reflect and pray with us as we listen for God’s direction in our effort to continue His compassionate mission of Love.