HOLYOKE, Mass. (WWLP) - This week's power outages had some Holyoke families heading to the food pantry.
After 20 families were evacuated from a Main Street apartment building damaged by the high winds Monday, the building lost power, and tenants didn't think to take food with them as they were rushed out of the building.
Margaret's Pantry Manager Brenda Lamagdeleine told 22News people made extra visits to the pantry this week after losing all of their food. And the pantry's gotten seriously low after a very busy month.
Because of the government shutdown in January, people got their February SNAP benefits early in case the shutdown dragged on. Lamagdeleine said some families started running out, and recently she's seen almost twice as many patrons this month.
"Now as you can see on my shelves right now, I am back to where I was in October again. I think it's the timing of the government shutdown, I think it's DTA changing for SNAP, and I just think that people are really struggling to make ends meet."
Margaret's Pantry is in desperate need of food donations: things like hearty soups, hamburger helper, and chili.
You can drop donations off Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.
