GRANDY, N.C. — Hundreds of families in need in northeast North Carolina received essential food donations this holiday week thanks to the generosity of the community.
Lower Currituck Food Pantry executive director Bill Henkel said it was almost a perfect storm of circumstances that led to a Facebook post on Dec. 22 saying the agency was in “dire need of food.”
“The delivery schedules from the Food Bank [of the Albemarle] had changed because of the holiday, and with increased demand, we were looking at a two week window, where we were going to have very little product to give away,” he said.
It took just two days to fill the shelves.
“The response from the community was phenomenal: church groups, individuals, business, community organizations all came together,” Henkel said. “Nw I’ve got a problem of where I’m going to put all this food rather than not having enough to give away.”
And on Friday, the donations keep coming in. Deanna Day recently moved to the area and saw the Facebook post.
“We saw that they were full, they got what they needed for the next few weeks and then some, but we thought well, there’s more weeks so we thought we’d bring more goods,” she said.
A typical allocation from the pantry helps feed a family for three or four days on average.
“it’s not going to supply all your needs, but we’re a supplement. Hopefully that money can go somewhere else to help the family.”
Henkel said the pantry is serving more than 250 families, which he estimates is up 25 percent from earlier in 2023.
“Currituck County, the people we serve, there’s a lot of seasonal employment,” he said. “And obviously the beach is as not busy right now. This is our busy season. You add in the cost of groceries, and all of a sudden, the demand for our services has gone way up.”
And the need doesn’t stop with the holiday season. Food pantries often report lower donations in January and February, so Henkel hopes the generosity of the community continues into the new year.
