Pantry 279 summer children's program 'fills the cracks' for rural families in need of food

Nancy Stewart is the first to arrive at the white van parked at the Oolitic Fire Department.

She’s been a patron of Pantry 279’s children’s supplemental food program since last year when it began. Every week, program coordinator Felicia Nunn hauls boxes of cereal, applesauce and other snacks from her mobile pantry van into Stewart's trunk.

Back at home, a few blocks down the road, are Stewart’s seven grandchildren. They range from 2 to 16 years old. Stewart helps babysit them often, as the price of childcare continues to climb.

Without Pantry 279’s new program, she doesn’t know how she’d be able to feed the children throughout summer. Her daughter's family makes too much money to be eligible for other local food programs, but it isn't enough to feed seven kids every day.

“They want to eat 24/7. They go through a box of cereal and a gallon of milk a day,” Stewart said. “Without the pantry, (my daughter) would just be cooking all day.”

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Pantry 279 in Ellettsville has been around for a few years, but the children’s summer food program is new since last summer. Only three weeks into this year’s program, it’s already proving more successful than last summer, Nunn said.

“This is just my baby,” Nunn said. “It’s kind of like last year in the spring, the baby was born, and this year the baby went from walking to running.”

The program, which has several new locations — including Oolitic — is mostly meant to “fill the gaps” in rural areas where other programs, such as Monroe County’s Community Kitchen don’t visit, Nunn said.

“We just try to fill in the cracks where there is nothing, or where it’s not feasible for parents to drive into town to a school or another location every day,” she said.

What is Pantry 279 and the summer children's supplemental food program?

Seven years ago, Pantry 279 was built by 10 girls aged 11 to 13 as part of a Girl Scout project, according to the pantry’s website. The girls wanted to help their friends who were only able to get meals at school.

Now, the pantry serves about 2,700 people a month and continues to grow. Last year, Nunn created the children’s program after talking with local families about how difficult it is to feed kids while school is out.

The program served 1,104 kids last summer in two locations. This year, the program has five locations, including Monroe County, and had already served nearly 500 children by its second week. The program runs from June 4 through Aug. 6.

Increased costs, inflation leaving more families in need

More families are using the program this year, especially with inflation and lowering of SNAP benefits.

Maria Turpin, an Oolitic mother of three, said she began using the program this summer due to the increased price of food and gas, especially since her youngest child has to be driven to frequent therapy appointments.

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She has to take care of the kids and is unable to work, which leaves her husband as the sole income provider.

“This takes a little bit of the burden off his shoulders,” she said.

At the Pantry 279 locations, volunteers allow the kids to choose what they want to eat for the next week. All the food is easy to assemble, so kids who might be at home while their parents work can feed themselves. On Tuesday, Turpin’s children stuffed prepackaged bowls of cereal, applesauce and peanut butter into their backpacks to take home.

Other foods often include Beanee Weenees, frozen chicken nuggets, pizza rolls, kid’s Cliff bars, various kinds of chips and mandarin oranges. Bottled water, energy drinks and juice boxes are also available.

Nunn said she’s heard many parents tell her they don’t know how they would afford food for the summer without the program. She's shed tears with several fellow mothers, she said.

One of the mothers who brought her child to pick up food for a week decided to see if driving seven miles to the pickup location was worth it, said Cindy Chavez, Pantry 279 founder and volunteer. After adding up the value, she determined the food was worth $112.

"That sounds like a lot of food," Chavez said, "but right now $112 worth of food is not that much." Even so, the woman was happy, Chavez said, because she saved on her weekly grocery bill.

When are the Pantry 279 locations open?

Pantry 279, at 501 E. Temperance St. in Ellettsville, is open on Saturdays from 2 to 4 p.m. for the children’s summer program.

Families in Monroe County can also visit the Williamsburg Court shopping mall on Pete Ellis Drive from 4 to 6:30 p.m. Mondays.

Other locations are the Owen County Fairgrounds in Spencer, from 1-4 p.m. Tuesdays; the Lawrence County Independent Schools at Fayetteville, 223 Old Farm Road, from 1 to 5 p.m. Thursdays; and the Oolitic Fire Department, at 5 Hoosier Ave., from 2 to 5 p.m. Tuesdays.

Families can visit once a week and must bring their children or proof of children.

The pantry is also open for its standard service 3-6 p.m. Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays and 1-4 p.m. Saturdays.

Pantry needs volunteers, donations

If she could manage it, Nunn would like to double the number of locations for the children’s program next summer. But she’s already stretched thin as it is.

Right now, volunteers are being pulled away from the pantry’s standard service to help run the children’s program. Many days, Nunn runs the Oolitic and Bedford locations by herself, dishing out food stacked to the roof of her van.

Anyone wishing to volunteer for the program or with the pantry in general can contact Cindy Chavez through the Pantry 279 Facebook page or email pantry279@yahoo.com. The pantry also accepts monetary donations, which can be earmarked for the children’s program.

"We have to show up every week," Chavez said. "You can't take a week off. You've got to be there for the kids."

Contact Carol Kugler at ckugler@heraldt.com, 812-331-4359 or @ckugler on Twitter. Contact Christine Stephenson at cstephenson@heraldt.com.

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Pantry 279 summer children's program serves rural families