The Interfaith Help Services food pantry has been providing assistance for families in Union County for 30 years, but with inflation at an all-time high, the nonprofit is having a harder time every month meeting the community's needs.
A partnership between nine local churches, IHS provides three major services to local residents: a food bank that families can draw from once a month; utility assistance, where 25% of a bill up to $50 is paid; and emergency dental care once a year.
Joe Doyle, president of the IHS Board of Directors, said on Friday that some services the nonprofit provides have already been scaled back due to the financial strain.
"We used to contribute $100 on utilities, and one of our measures was to go to $50," he said on Friday. "When the pandemic came, we were able to provide food every two weeks to households... We made that cut and went to once a month."
"We're kind of losing ground, but the need is getting worse and worse," he continued. "If we don't get more donations and assistance, we're going to have to cut back even further."
IHS is staffed entirely by volunteers, who do everything from write the checks for clients' utility bills, fill food bags and cook to unload food from big trucks, cook and keep the books on all the funds that go out of the charity.
"There's no salaries. All the volunteers are purely here on a voluntary basis," Doyle said. "It's a large effort by a lot of different volunteers here that keep this running."
There are also no restrictions on who is eligible to receive assistance from IHS. Doyle said that between the pandemic and, now, high inflation, he's seen a lot of new families walk through the doors at St. Mary's Episcopal Church, where IHS is based.
"They have to be from Union County. That's the only qualification," Doyle said, emphasizing that every dollar spent by IHS goes to benefit a household within the county. "Basically, the churches have the feeling that if they're humble enough to come forward and ask for assistance that they're probably in need, so we don't set any dollar, salary limit."
Doyle said that during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, local residents who were able to stepped up in a big way to support IHS. However, as COVID restrictions have eased and people have returned to a more-normal way of living, donations have dropped off, while the need has only grown.
"Going into the pandemic, there was an elderly lady that gifted us a huge amount and that carried us through," he said. "We would serve 50 to 75 (people) a day."
Doyle estimated that IHS serves approximately 300 households each month.
"We're spending about $6,000 a month on utilities and purchasing food, but we're losing $2,300 every month. The bank account is going down and down and down," he said.
IHS purchases the food for its pantry from the Arkansas Food Bank, a nonprofit working to reduce food insecurity in Arkansas. IHS is able to stretch a dollar further by purchasing from Arkansas Food Bank, Doyle explained.
The Arkansas Food Bank reports that one in five Arkansans are food insecure, meaning they "struggle to find sufficient access to nutritious food." Also, one in four children in Arkansas faces hunger. According to Aspire Arkansas, part of the Arkansas Community Foundation which works to support charitable causes in the state, 6,150 households in Union County face food insecurity.
"The last six months is when (the need) started increasing, and it just seems to build. It's surprising to me the number of new clients," Doyle said. "There's this continuous, you know, group of new people that come in asking for help."
IHS volunteers do seek out grants to help fund the nonprofit's services, but they're few and far between. The vast majority of the funding IHS receives comes from local residents' donations.
In addition to St. Mary's, the Church of the Armory (formerly CrossLife), East Faulkner Church of Christ, First Baptist, Faith Community Church, First Presbyterian, First United Methodist Church, Out Savior Lutheran Church and Holy Redeemer are part of IHS. A congregant from each church typically sits on the nonprofit's Board.
But those who wish to help the IHS don't necessarily need to be a member at any of the churches involved to give. Doyle said anyone can visit St. Mary's to offer a donation, or checks can be mailed to the church, 512 Champagnolle Rd., with a note that the funds should go toward IHS.
Congregants at the other churches involved can also donate through their churches, Doyle said, but they too should note that the donation is meant to go to IHS.
"IHS needs help if we're going to continue to provide to the people in the greatest need," he said. "One of the things I want people to know is that 100% of their donations go directly to the people in our local community... This inflation is really hurting people – with their rents, their food expenses and their utilities. All of those things are growing, and many of our clients are seniors that are one a fixed income, or they're on disability, which is a fixed income, and so they're just losing ground."
"We need donations," Doyle said.
Joe Doyle points out a box of MREs (meals ready-to-eat) stored in a supply closet at St. Mary's Episcopal Church as part of the Interfaith Help Services food pantry. The IHS is seeking the community's support as inflation continues to take its toll. (Caitlan Butler/News-Times)
The IHS food pantry is seen a day after being restocked. Volunteers at the IHS, like Joe Doyle, pictured in the background, are hoping the community can help the nonprofit as it works to provide food, utility and dental assistance to Union County residents most in need. (Caitlan Butler/News-Times)
Food bags prepared for clients of the Interfaith Help Services are pictured in the IHS food pantry. IHS is asking the community for help to allow the nonprofit to continue to provide assistance to those in need. (Caitlan Butler/News-Times)