The Food Bank of Delaware is working to change how its clients — or neighbors, as those within the organization say — feel about receiving donated goods. The nonprofit recently updated the layout of two high-traffic pantries to resemble grocery stores with aisles to peruse and will incorporate a wider variety of multicultural food options. Instead of accepting whatever they’re offered, clients can choose according to their preferences, allergies or sensitivities, and religious dietary restrictions.
Cathy Kanefsky, Food Bank of Delaware’s president and CEO, calls these pantries “the future of food banking,” and describes them as “a place that restores dignity, empowers choice, and recognizes the unique needs of every household.”
The Newark Healthy Pantry Center reopened in early February after a renovation funded by the American Rescue Plan Act. This center and the Healthy Pantry Center in Milford operated as drive-up pantries during the pandemic and have come back strong with more welcoming choice-based models. Since the Milford pantry reopened last January, it has served more than 7,000 households, or about 150 visitors daily. Both allow qualified Delaware residents to shop for food and household supplies once per month at no cost.
“Just because somebody’s hungry doesn’t mean that we need to give them things that aren’t nutritious or aren’t in accordance with their ethnic or or religious beliefs,” Kanefsky says. “It’s about becoming much more respectful in how we provide food.”
The Food Bank of Delaware is also expanding the types of food offered at pantries through the Cultural Foods Project, a partnership between the Food Bank of Delaware nutrition team and University of Delaware students in the Master of Science in Nutrition and Dietetics/Dietetic Internship program. Project data found that among the food bank clients surveyed, 46% said they wish the pantries made additional foods available that adhere to their cultures or traditions. The research team is creating focus groups and plans to meet with them this spring to determine how the nonprofit can better serve diverse communities, both through its Healthy Pantry Centers and through partner pantries scattered throughout the state.
Feeding America reports that one in eight Delawareans are facing hunger, and the demand for food bank services is increasing. At the Newark Healthy Pantry Center ribbon-cutting event, New Castle County Executive Marcus Henry spoke about needing to end the stigma around seeking help.
“Our neighbors who utilize that benefit from these programs may be fully employed and live paycheck-to-paycheck, or have maybe lost a job through no fault of their own and need help getting by. There are so many ways someone may find themselves food insecure,” Henry said. “It’s so important that this space allows the vulnerable among us to seek support with dignity.”
Volunteer Jill Fredel describes the Healthy Pantry Centers as welcoming places but understands the hesitation or shame that some feel for shopping there. Nevertheless, she expects this resource will offer hope to many.
“In these uncertain times, I am afraid that the volume of people we will see at the Healthy Pantry will increase,” she said at the event. “We must come together every single day while embracing that trademark food bank empathy as neighbors helping neighbors.”
To learn more about Food Bank of Delaware’s Healthy Pantry Center program, visit the website.
Milford Pantry: 102 Delaware Veterans Blvd., Milford
Newark Pantry:Â 222 Lake Dr., Newark
