Pantry shelves are empty at The Salvation Army

Josh and his wife Jessie received a box of food supplies Tuesday afternoon from The Salvation Army, but those supplies may not be available much longer.

The Salvation Army has seen a surge in families needing assistance this summer, especially such basic services as food, officials say. From June to August, the organization gave out 420 boxes of food to local families.

Those boxes of food have severely depleted the pantry. Shelves normally are full of cans of vegetables, soups, canned fruit, sauces, canned meats, and mac and cheese. But Tuesday afternoon the shelves held only a few cans of corn and green beans.

Becky Rajeski, receptionist and case worker, said the organization has been out of canned meat for some time now.

“It is sadly depleted,” Rajeski said of the shelves.

Rajeski blames the uptick in clients on the economy.

“We are seeing more customers; more people are out of work,” she said.

The economy also is being blamed for the shortage in donations.

“We have gotten some small donations, but we haven’t gotten any large donations,” she said. “People honestly don’t have as much to give right now because everyone is feeling it (the economic squeeze).”

The last large donation was in May when the United States Postal Service held its canned food drive. The Salvation Army has been living off that donation since.

Boxes, which are meant to feed a family of four, normally contain a bag of rice, dried beans, green beans, corn, soup, a sauce of some sort, canned meat and canned fruit. Some frozen meat is usually included, along with bread. But the shelves contain no soups, canned fruit or canned meat right now.

So far no one has been turned away.

Jessie discovered a package of hot dogs in her package on Tuesday.

“We can have hot dogs one night,” she told her husband, Josh. Josh is employed, but right now money is going toward medical bills.

“It helps, at least for a few days,” he said. “It’s better to have some than to have nothing at all.”