Photo: Hoosier Hills Food Bank
A national food bank is shutting down, which includes closing a location in Kokomo.
Food pantry locations across the country will be gone, leaving many people with fewer options for discounted food. The Kokomo Angel Food Ministries pantry served anywhere from 80 to 200 families per month. Now, residents are worried about finding a source for inexpensive meals.
“As I contacted our customers that we were serving, many of them said, ‘What am I going to do now?’” former Angel Food Ministries coordinator Dee Manning said.
Food banks have been hit particularly hard by the poor economy. While low-income families have the option of getting food from other area food banks, the number of locations as shrunk, said Emily Weikert Bryant, the executive director of food bank network Feeding Indiana’s Hungry.
“Sort of in the big picture is that gas prices tend to be going up, the cost of food is going up,” she said. “Everyone is having difficulty with donations in any sector, simply because of the economy.”
Manning said families who used the Angel Food Ministries pantry may now be forced to pay approximately twice as much for their food by going to supermarkets.
