Many people think of giving to the food pantry during the holidays. But high demand at the Vilas Food Pantry continues as winter stretches on.
The Vilas Food Pantry has seen a surge in the number of families needing its services. Director Richard Short says the food pantry has been able to keep up with the demand so far, thanks to the generosity of the community during the holidays, but hunger is a year-round issue.
“We average, maybe a big day would be 45 households, and we’ve been running 70. So it’s picked up considerably. There’s nothing telling me they’re going to go down because we’ve had a lot of new applications.”
Many of those applications have been larger households of 6 or more—families who’ve recently moved to the Eagle River to join relatives, and then can’t find sufficient work.
Families must show ID and earn under a certain income to qualify. The food pantry is particularly looking for monetary donations, as it can stretch a dollar farther than the average consumer by buying wholesale.
The Vilas Food Pantry is open Wednesday mornings and every other Thursday afternoon.