'A program of dignity': Woman starts payday pantry for working poor - The News Herald

'A program of dignity': Woman starts payday pantry for working poor - The News Herald
In Bay County, 16 percent of people lived in poverty in 2014, according to federal poverty guidelines. Another 26 percent were teetering at the edge of poverty.

PANAMA CITY — While locals and tourists celebrated the unofficial end of summer on Labor Day, former social worker and writer Sandra Gallimore started a payday pantry to help those who are working and still struggling.

“I felt it was appropriate to start the pantry on Labor Day because my concept was for working families, the working poor and middle class,” Gallimore said.

In Bay County, 16 percent of people lived in poverty in 2014, according to federal poverty guidelines. Another 26 percent were teetering at the edge of poverty, a group the nonprofit United Way has dubbed ALICE (asset limited, income-constrained, employed). Gallimore’s payday pantry targets those people within the ALICE group.

“Who falls out of line are the working people. There are a lot of single-male and single-female families, a lot of low-income people working on minimum wage, and they don’t meet the [federal poverty] requirements to qualify for help. My interest is in the lower-income working family and also senior citizens,” Gallimore said.

The concept for the pantry is for people to have access to necessities in between paychecks. People can take what they need and restock items when they can.

“There’s too much month left at the end of the money. If people run out of money before payday — if seniors run out of money — they won’t ask for help. I believe they would do something like this because you can do it with dignity. You’ve got a brown paper bag in there, and you can get what you might need for a day or two. There’s certainly no shame in that,”Gallimore said.

The payday pantry offers those in need a broader selection of items to choose from than those they might receive from canned food drives.

“They can pick out what they want instead of taking what someone gives them in a box once a year,” Gallimore said. “It’s what people think they should have. Here, they are picking out what they want, and they are returning what they want. The pantry is supposed to be self-supporting.”

Fairway Inn housekeeper Jennifer MacGuillivray has been keeping up the pantry in between Gallimore’s visits.

“I think it’s very awesome what she’s doing. It’s for families that run out of food during the week and are not getting paid for a couple days, and it’s convenient,” MacGillivray said.

Gallimore hopes her payday pantry will inspire others in the area to begin their own.

“I’m hoping it would catch on for surrounding communities and neighborhoods. I’d love to hear from people if they would be interested in participating,” Gallimore said.

Anyone interested in starting a payday pantry in your neighborhood is encouraged to call Sandra Gallimore at 850-708-3027.

“People need to get over that hump that it’s not something to be ashamed of. It should be a program of dignity,” Gallimore said.