New van should offer some relief to overrun food pantries

Food insecurity for those with incomes below the poverty line isn’t always visible to most people, but Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Paterson has a chilling statistic to share.

Up until two years ago, before the Covid pandemic, about 5,000 people a month were being helped by their three food pantries. Now, a combination of inflation and supply-chain issues, which have driven up grocery prices, means they’re trying to help 20,000 each month. There are sometimes long lines where there were no lines before.

“It’s a challenge,” said Chris Brancato, development director for the diocesan Catholic Charities. “There are a lot of loving food pantry volunteers, but a very limited staff.”

Additionally, the pantries have had to rely on individual parish drivers or overextended Catholic Charities staff. “A lot of our parishes are short-staffed themselves,” Brancato said. “There’s not funding there to hire drivers.”

That system has changed with the arrival of a new Ford van from the Order of Malta. The goal is to have fewer deliveries efficiently bringing more to the pantries.

At the moment, the van is being operated by Bob and Sue Sameth, residents of Harding Township and longtime volunteers.

They’re “right now slowly building it up,” said Bob Sameth.

“The essence of it is to try to meet people where they are,” said Sue Sameth.

Eventually, the van will have other uses, including for clothing delivery.

The Father English food pantry in Paterson, in operation since 1938, is considered one of the largest such operations in the country. Families using “shopping points” are supposed to receive enough food to last a week.

“Food pantries are unique in that they’re completely funded by contributors,” Brancato said. “Parish pickups are a real challenge because we’re helping more people than ever before.”