KFVS12 News & Weather Cape Girardeau, Carbondale, Poplar BluffDonations down at Butler County food pantries
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By Tyler Profilet - bio | email
POPLAR BLUFF, MO (KFVS) - Volunteers at St. Vincent de Paul in Poplar Bluff give out food to the needy four times a month.
And they have steadily been giving out more food this year.
"I'd say we've seen a 300 percent increase in people," said volunteer Paul Hess. "And it's getting worse, much worse."
"The number of clients we serve here goes up, seems like monthly," added volunteer Merlin DeWitt.
And in a down economy, the clientele is changing.
"I've seen people who were hard workers, had jobs, but now have none. For the first time I've seen a lot of people I never saw before," said Hess.
The increase in the number of needy comes at a time when donations are lacking.
"Money wise, we're down probably $500-600 per month," DeWitt said. "Canned good wise we're probably down two or three thousand. So it's significant."
On average, St. Vincent de Paul gives out bags filled with food to more than 50 families.
With the holiday canned food drives already over, the food in storage now has to last for an entire year.
"They're giving what they can. Hopefully the economy will come around and the donations will go back up," said DeWitt.
"This is the holiday season and it's tough. It's really hard to give. But we'll be getting more people, I know that," said Hess.
For a list of food pantries in southeast Missouri, visit semofoodbank.org.
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