ALLEGAN, Mich. -- The Allegan-based Congregational Kitchen's all-volunteer staff has been serving meals and supplying pantries around West Michigan for 17 years, but this year it could use more donations and volunteers.
The nonprofit organization's director, Carrie Lovett, says most of the food pantries the Congregational Kitchen serves have been seeing a significant increase in the number of people who are showing up to receive food.
"Some of them are telling me they're up about 80 percent. Some of them are doubling in numbers, and some of them are almost at 100 percent more families coming," Lovett said.
That is partly due to the discontinuance of some state and federal COVID-19 relief funding.
"I had a young lady speak to me, and she told me that there was $300 less money that she's able to get per month. Now, for a young family that's a considerable amount. You've learned to live with those $300, and it's gone now," Lovett said. "And so, they're looking for ways to stretch the dollars that they do have and do receive."
And that is why they are going to the food pantries. It also supplies about 30 pantries per week in the counties of Allegan, Kent, Ottawa, Kalamazoo and Van Buren. The food and supplies are donated by private corporations.
As the amount of accessible food grew, the organization grew with it.
"We also have a kitchen division, and through there last week we fed 840 people. Those are take-out meals only. We don't have our dining room open yet, since we closed it during the pandemic."
The Congregational Kitchen serves meals to only one school district, the Allegan Public Schools. It also gives out roughly 400 backpack bags every Friday to the students during the school year.
Donations can be sent to The Congregational Kitchen, at 323 Cutler St., Allegan, MI. 49010. A GoFundMe page also has been set up for cash donations.
"We are always looking for donations, but we're also looking for donations of time," Lovett said. "A volunteer can work with us hand-in-hand. Sometimes, I have someone coming in for only an hour worth of time, and that's an hour's worth of time that somebody else doesn't have to do. It doesn't mean that the volunteer has to be there all day long."
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