GIFT OF GIVING

WASILLA — Adam Pendergrass considers himself rich, but he often relies on the Food Pantry of Wasilla to help him feed himself and his five children.

Some people are rich with worldly possessions, but Pendergrass said he’s rich with family.

“I’d rather have lots of kids than lots of money,” the Mat-Su Borough School District employee said.

He and his two daughters were among the many local folks who received food Wednesday at the Food Pantry. Pendergrass said it’s far from the first time his family has seen the inside of the food bank.

“It’s not getting any easier,” he said. “It’s just getting harder and harder.”

Although Pendergrass is employed, he said his wages haven’t kept pace with the increased cost of living Alaskans have experienced during the past four or five years.

“This is usually where we come to get food,” Pendergrass said.

Overall, Food Pantry of Wasilla numbers are down about 6,300 people during the same period last year, said Food Pantry Executive Director Eddie Ezelle. In 2010, the nonprofit served 43,679 people and so far in 2011, that number is 37,315. Although the 2011 total will grow by about 3,000 when September’s total is added, he said. That’s the average number of people the nonprofit served monthly this year.

In the beginning

Food Pantry of Wasilla volunteer Kathy Broady remembers when the nonprofit started in a closet in the basement of Good Shepherd Lutheran Church. It was her mother, Betty White, who started the food pantry program at the church in 1984.

“A lot of people who come in are working,” she said. “But they just aren’t quite making it.”

Broady said she’s seen a huge increase in the number of people who need food assistance during her more than 20 years as a volunteer at the food pantry. “It’s overwhelming sometimes.”

But some people still don’t realize there are numerous food pantries — there are about a dozen sprinkled around the Valley — serving food to hungry people in the Mat-Su Borough year-round. In the core area, similar food pantries include the Palmer Food Bank and Blood and Fire in Meadow Lakes.

“We always get a lot of food this time of year,” Broady said. “But if people want to think of us in January and February, that’d be great, too. A lot of people think we’re only open Thanksgiving to Christmas.”

Ezelle said that’s one of the biggest misconceptions about the food program — hunger isn’t seasonal.

Gayle Asche is one of about 50 people who volunteers regularly at the food pantry.

“It’s very rewarding helping people,” she said. “Especially because some of them are so appreciative.”

Asche began volunteering in April and now runs the federal part of the food distribution program four days a week.

But cuts to the funding for the income-based The Emergency Food Assistance Program have her worried.

Funding at the federal level for the emergency food assistance was cut by 40 percent, which will mean that all food pantries in the nation will need to collect 40 percent more donations next year to feed the same number of people, Ezelle said.

Rewarding and

eye-opening

Asche said her volunteer gig is rewarding and eye-opening.

“People tell me things like, ‘I used to donate food and now I’m coming here for help,’” she said.

Folks shouldn’t feel shy about getting food from pantries.

“We’re here to help,” Asche said.

Ezelle said the Food Pantry of Wasilla focuses its resources on feeding people in the Mat-Su Valley — from Cantwell to Lake Louise.

Two grants also will help the nonprofit grow to feed more people, Ezelle said. A Rasmuson Foundation grant will fund the addition of a 12-by-14-foot freezer. A predevelopment grant from Foraker will determine what type and size of warehouse space is needed. Being able to store food locally will mean the nonprofit has to spend less money buying food from the Food Bank of Alaska at 16 cents a pound to fill its shelves.

Ezelle said he’s spent $80,000 in the last two years buying food.

“This is not government funded,” Ezelle said. “I’d rather have the community support us than the government anyway.”

The Food Pantry of Wasilla, 501 Bogard Road, is open from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., Monday through Friday. People need to bring an ID with them and proof they live in the Mat-Su Valley. For more information, contact 357-3769.

Contact Heather A. Resz at heather.resz@frontiersman.com or 352-2268.