Families relying on the Bradford Food Pantry are receiving food assistance half as often after declining donations and rising operating costs forced the pantry to reduce its monthly distributions.
The nonprofit organization recently reduced food distributions from twice a month to once a month as it struggles to maintain enough food for the roughly 100 families it serves each week.
Bob Milner, a former president of the Bradford Food Pantry, said monetary donations have declined by roughly $2,000 per month.
“That's literally $24,000 a year in financial contributions alone,” Milner said.
Milner led the pantry for seven years, including during the COVID-19 pandemic. He said the organization experienced a decline in both food and monetary donations during the pandemic before contributions began to recover later in 2020.
Since then, the pantry has lost some of its longtime donors.
Milner said many regular contributors have passed away or moved into nursing homes. Their children and grandchildren do not have the same relationship with the pantry and have not necessarily continued their donations.
At the same time, the cost of keeping the pantry stocked has increased.
“The word I use is we’re just a microcosm of what’s going on in the United States overall,” Milner said.
Those financial pressures have affected what the pantry is able to provide for families.
“It means that we have to give them less food and particularly less meat,” Milner said. “Meat is the expensive thing.”
The reduction means families who previously could receive food twice a month are now limited to one distribution per month.
Despite having less food to distribute, Milner said demand has remained relatively steady at about 100 families per week.
Demand can increase when the local economy changes, particularly during periods of unemployment, he said.
Milner pointed to recent lumber mill closures in Lake Butler and Clay County as an example. He said the closure left about 500 people without jobs, affecting not only employees but also families that depend on their income.
Families with children can be especially affected by sudden unemployment, Milner said, because they may need additional food assistance while looking for work.
“We hardly ever see a real decrease,” Milner said.
Demand at the pantry also changes throughout the month.
Milner said the first Friday of the month is typically one of the pantry’s least busy because many recipients have recently received their monthly benefits. As the month continues, more families may need additional assistance.
Recipients must meet income eligibility requirements to receive certain foods from the pantry, Milner said. Bread and pastries, however, are available to everyone.
Local businesses also play a significant role in keeping the pantry stocked.
Winn-Dixie, Walmart and Dollar General are among its largest local contributors, Milner said. The pantry collects fruits, vegetables and meats from the stores as the products approach their expiration dates.
Milner said the pantry closely monitors these products to ensure the food remains safe.
“Our rule at the pantry is, would you serve this to a guest at your house? And if the answer is no, then we don't give it out,” Milner said.
Temperature checks are conducted seven days a week, and expiration dates are carefully monitored.
Even with those contributors, the pantry still needs to purchase food.
Milner said spending $4,000 to $5,000 per month on additional food would be difficult for the organization to sustain. He said cereal and peanut butter are particularly helpful donations for families with children.
Recent attention surrounding the distribution cuts, however, has brought additional support to the pantry.
Milner said the organization received more than $10,000 in financial donations following coverage of the cuts by the Bradford County Telegraph and local television stations.
Feeding Northeast Florida also sponsored a new two-door reach-in freezer for the pantry, Milner said. The new freezer will replace older equipment that is less energy-efficient.
The recent donations provide additional resources, but it remains unclear when the pantry will be able to return to its previous distribution schedule.
The pantry’s board said it hopes to return to twice-monthly distributions when food and monetary donations recover, according to the Bradford County Telegraph.
For Milner, continued community support is essential to maintaining the pantry’s ability to serve Bradford County residents.
He said people who do not rely on the pantry may not realize how much community donations contribute to their ability to provide food or how expensive it would be for the organization to replace those donations itself.
For now, the pantry continues to serve local families once a month while working to rebuild the resources needed to increase distributions again.
“We didn’t beg,” Milner said. “We just let people know we cannot distribute what we were. And in the process, people have stepped up to the plate. We’re so thankful for that.”