NEW MIAMI —
There is good in this world, and it lives in the heart of New Miami’s Village Food Pantry. What started as an act of kindness for a struggling family has turned into a house of goodwill and support for the community.
That goodwill is now growing even stronger. This month, the Village Food Pantry received a $10,000 grant from General Motors to further its mission of ensuring that no individual goes hungry.
“The blessings just keep pouring in,” Pamela Benson, executive director of The Village Food Pantry, said of General Motors’ support. “We couldn’t do it without them.”
Deborah Howard chooses her food items at The Village Food Pantry on Morris Avenue in New Miami. Howard is also a volunteer at the pantry. (NICK GRAHAM/STAFF)
After three tries to receive the grant, the Village Food Pantry now has the opportunity to expand its reach in Butler County and purchase more food from organizations such as Shared Harvest Foodbank and supplemental items from grocery stores and other retailers.
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Benson started her initiative to help hungry families 10 years ago through the Mt. Zion Apostolic Temple with just a folding table and donations from Panera Bread. Her group called themselves Grains from God and did all they could to help members of the church.
Soon enough, the number of families in need grew, and Grains from God needed more money, more food and more support. They connected with Shared Harvest and started receiving shipments and donations from organizations across Ohio.
But Village Food Pantry’s growth has been bittersweet, Benson said. The more her team of friends and family helped, the more they realized the number of struggling families in New Miami and beyond.
“At the beginning, I didn’t have a clue (of the need). But when you set up there, you’d see it,” she said.
The Village Food Pantry on Morris Avenue in New Miami received a General Motors’ community impact grant for $10,000. (NICK GRAHAM/STAFF)
Tina Osso, executive director of Shared Harvest, has been in the hunger relief field for more than 40 years, and said she has seen the need for food help throughout the county.
“Hunger in this country is a well-kept secret. We don’t like to believe that in a land of plenty there are people that are going without,” Osso said.
Last year, her organization distributed about 4.1 million pounds of food to Butler County — given to the 90 different charities that draw from its supply — some of which made its way to the Village Food Pantry in support of New Miami and its surrounding areas.
But sometimes, it still isn’t enough. Shared Harvest and the Village Food Pantry both suffer from Congress’ fire on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), also known as food stamps.
“The truth of the matter is we are running as fast as we can, we are doing as much as we can, but there’s absolutely no way we can make up for the lack of snap benefits,” Osso said.
The Village Food Pantry on Morris Avenue in New Miami. (NICK GRAHAM/STAFF)
SNAP benefits are Osso’s number one weapon in the fight against hunger, she said. But with lunch programs being cut in schools and tighter qualifications for food stamps, more people flood the doors of food pantries.
Many of Benson’s regular customers are told by the welfare office they no longer qualify for food stamps.
Elizabeth Nesbitt is one of many who comes through the pantry line on Wednesdays. Her income is just outside the lines of those who qualify, and therefore she gets no help from the government.
“It’s kind of a letdown,” Nesbitt said. “The government is supposed to be there for the people and they’re not. It’s as if the government just wants to watch out for themselves.”
Confusion on hunger in the United States stems from government programs referring to it as “food secure” or “food insecure.” If someone is food secure, they have access to healthy and nutritious food needed to live healthily. Asking people if they are hungry versus if they are food secure changes the dynamic, Osso said.
“The language changed and so did the understanding,” Osso said. “If you ask someone if they’re hungry, they know what you’re talking about.”
The Village Food Pantry on Morris Avenue in New Miami. (NICK GRAHAM/STAFF)
The impact of hunger weighs heavy on Benson, who grew up in New Miami just three streets over from her church.
Though she’s never gone hungry, she understands the pain of her community when they line up outside the pantry an hour and a half before it opens. And though she’s never been in a line for a food bank, it doesn’t mean she doesn’t know the pain of trying to make ends meet, Benson said.
“I’ve been where I can see why you’re in this line, because it’s rough out there. There really isn’t much that you can give up, because there’s a need for everything,” Benson said.
Benson and her sister Janet witness firsthand the sacrifices people make to pay for food. Seniors in the community have to choose buying medicine or buying meals. Neighbors shove seven people into one car on trips to the food pantry because they can’t afford the gas. Multiple generations fit themselves into one house to save on rent.
“Thank God for the pantry,” Janet said. “(Seniors) can get (their) medicine and then come to the pantry and get their food.”
For Osso, it’s time to change how the country sees hunger and work to help more people. The more conversation there is about who’s affected, the more likely organizations like Shared Harvest and Village Food Pantry can affect change in the long term, she said.
“I just thank God that we’re here to help them,” Benson said. “Looking at Butler County, nobody should go hungry.”
Support from Benson and her family goes beyond food and clothing. They give smiles, love and blessings to the families that pass through the church.
“(Pam) is a loving, good-hearted woman,” New Miami resident Tammy Lakes said. “She always finds a way to help everybody.”
And $10,000 from General Motors will go a long way to showing kindness as Benson and her family continue in their fight for the New Miami community.
“She deserves this grant,” Lakes said. “She deserves it for sure.”
