More demand, fewer donations

By Allison Brophy Champion

Published: October 7, 2008

12,741.

That’s how many meals the Culpeper Food Closet provided to needy families last month: a 40 percent increase from last September.

But if this type of demand continues to increase — as organizers expect it to — and donations stay the same, the Culpeper Food Closet at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church could be out of money within a year, forced to close.

It’s yet another stark reminder of a strained economy in which more and more people are feeling the stress of not being able to meet their daily needs.

Food closet directors Dick and Barbara Rosica, however, remain confident that the community will answer their call for help at a time when it’s needed more than ever.

“In the past, the community has responded when we needed help,” said Mrs. Rosica. “We would be so grateful if they could again.”

Inside the Food Closet Tuesday morning, the shelves seemed pretty well stocked with the exception of a few bare spots marked with “luxuries” like canned yams, jelly or fruit. But the apparent bounty was deceptive and existed only because the Food Closet had just spent $13,700 for a month’s worth of food, said Mr. Rosica.

On a weekly basis, it takes 110 to 120 cases of food to keep the place running.

A look in the waiting room tells why. Most of the dozen or so seats were filled Tuesday morning with a steady stream of young mothers and children.

An older man, eyes turned down, waited his turn while a neatly dressed woman fidgeted on a couch; 471 families came through here last month.

“The traffic has been so darn erratic,” Mr. Rosica said. “We feel like we might run out of food some days. We are maintaining.”

Local families showing up at the Food Closet, referred by Culpeper Social Services, are trying to maintain as well.

But it’s a struggle.

Survival mode
Take, for example, the dad, mom and four children living in a hotel room, or the 70-year-old grandfather raising his four grandchildren, all teenagers. These are the faces the Rosicas see every day.

And the families, well, they’re getting bigger, a fact Mrs. Rosica attributed to an increasing number of foreclosures and evictions in Culpeper County.

“As one portion of the family loses their house, they move in with relatives,” she said.

Last year, the average family size served by the Culpeper Food Closet was 2.7 people; this year, that number has risen to 3.4.

So in order to keep the ministry afloat and serving an increasingly needy population, the Food Closet has cut back on items like jelly, canned fruit, toothpaste and dish detergent.

Soap, toilet paper and shampoo are still available to those who need it, but the latter is poured from large bottles into tiny canisters used for holding camera film so as to make it go further.

For a couple of years now, Hunters for the Hungry of Virginia, a nonprofit group, has provided free venison to the local Food Closet and others statewide.

As long as the free deer meat continues, Mr. Rosica said, he’s looking to “phase out” ground beef from the Food Closet’s offerings altogether later this year or early next year, again, to save money.

Reasons to be thankful
In spite of the year’s struggles, the Food Closet continues to get regular support from numerous schools, businesses, individuals and community groups like the Culpeper Chapter of ABATE Virginia, a motorcycle enthusiast organization.

More than 50 local bikers participated in a four-county poker run Sept. 20 in support of the Food Closet, raising $600.

In addition, Culpeper Boy Scouts host their annual food drive next month, depositing empty grocery bags on area doorsteps Nov. 1 and picking up the bags — hopefully full of groceries — Nov. 8.

Efforts like these sustain the Food Closet because it receives no government funds and is solely dependent on the community’s generosity to keep the doors open and shelves stocked.

“We are not going to get out of this without the community’s help,” Mr. Rosica said.

Added Mrs. Rosica: “We can save this together.”

Allison Brophy Champion can be reached at 825-0771 ext. 101 or .

‘We can save this together’
The Culpeper Food Closet is feeling the pinch of more demand and fewer
donations. Those who want to help can drop off food donations during
business hours at:

-Culpeper County Library
-Anytime Fitness
-Z’s New Look in the Meadowbrook Shopping Center
-Nuway Image on East Davis Street
-Food Lion
-Culpeper Food Closet (weekdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.)

Local teens looking for community service project ideas can host a neighborhood food drive or bake sale in support of the food closet. Mail your tax-deductible
donation to the Culpeper Food Closet at P.O. Box 343 Culpeper, Va. 22701.

Thanksgiving program will be affected
Facing tough times, the Culpeper Food Closet expects to save money this year by downsizing its annual Thanksgiving program to just include turkeys. Gone are the days of Cool Whip, pies and all the trimmings.

Last year, the Food Closet, helped along with a sizable donation from Full Circle Thrift Shop, spent some $17,000 to provide complete Thanksgiving feasts to more than 600 families, Director Dick Rosica said.

Things are different now.

“We feel it’s not prudent to commit that kind of money this year,” he said, considering that the extra money it would take to feed families on the single holiday could buy enough food to stock the Food Closet for up to five weeks. “So what you would normally donate for Thanksgiving, we will put in the general fund for our day-to-day operations,” Rosica said.

Another change this year is that the turkeys will be distributed Saturday, Nov. 22 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Food Closet (which backs onto Commerce Street downtown) and not from the former distribution site at Providence Bible Church on Old Brandy Road.

Qualifying individuals do not need to show up early to get their turkey, as the Thanksgiving birds will be reserved by name.