The Shadow
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The COPE Food Pantry in Covington is in need of financial donations to meet growing demand for its services.
COPE, which stands for Christians Overcoming Problems with the Economy, distributes food to needy residents and families every Thursday.
But an ever increasing demand for food assistance from the community has strained the ministry’s finances.
Through July, COPE had spent about $26,000 on food purchases, while donations totaled around $15,000. As a result, the ministry’s fund balance dropped $961.60 in early August. It closed 2013 with a balance of $12,028.
“We’ve just got more people in this community who are in need of food, and while our purchases of food have increased, our financial contributions have decreased,” said the Rev. Mike Fleenor, pastor of McAllister Memorial Presbyterian Church on North Alleghany Avenue.
Although McAllister houses the food pantry and serves as a distribution center, the non-denominational ministry is a cooperative effort involving several churches.
COPE was started in 1980 as part of an effort to assist the community in the wake of a major fire at the Hercules Inc. plant in Covington. The fire damaged a spinning tower at the plant and left around 500 employees without jobs.
COPE has maintained a presence in the community over the past 34 years. COPE provides funds to assist the needy with utility bills, medical bills and overnight accommodations at local motels. The COPE Foody Pantry distributes non-perishable food items.
Fleenor said requests for assistance from the food pantry have been steadily rising for seven to eight years. The pantry is assisting as many as 240 families, translating into 715 individuals.
Volunteers distribute food each Thursday at McAllister from 8:30 a.m. to noon.
Food is delivered every Wednesday from the Southwestern Virginia Second Harvest Food Bank. The pantry also receives donations of food from Food Lion and individuals.
“All of the money we receive for the food pantry is used to purchase food. No one that helps at the pantry gets paid. It’s all volunteer help. We even have volunteers who come each Wednesday and help unload the food truck when it arrives,” Fleenor said.
Among regular volunteers at the food pantry is O.E. “Junior” Parker, a longtime member of McAllister. As he worked at the pantry on Thursday, Parker made note of the increased demand from the community for food.
“This is probably the slackest day we’ve had in five weeks,” he said.
The increasing demand in the Highlands is part of a trend that food pantries nationwide are experiencing. There are many working poor families in the United States, where one income supports an entire family with multiple needs. Many families are faced with the dilemma of paying for food, utilities or medical care.
Statistics show that hunger is now a daily struggle for one in six people living in the United States.
Poverty is just one of many factors associated with growing hunger problems.
Other factors are unemployment, low household assets, demographic characteristics and a lack of access to adequate, nutritious food.
Recent data from the U.S. Census Bureau show that 21.3 percent of residents in the city of Covington live below the federal poverty level. In Alleghany County, the figure is 10.5 percent.
Moreover, household incomes in the city and county are behind the state average. The median income for a household in Covington is $36,067, while in Alleghany County it’s $46,133. The median household income in Virginia is $63,636.
Local unemployment also exceeds the state average. The July jobless level in the Alleghany County-Covington Labor Market Area was 7.2 percent — almost 2 percent higher that the statewide average of 5.4 percent.
“There is just more and more need in this area,” said Bucky Mottern, who has volunteered at the COPE Food Pantry for about 10 years.
As the demand for assistance from the food pantry grows, Fleenor is asking local churches for help. He recently sent letters asking churches to consider making financial contributions to the food pantry as part of their budgets.
“We’re just asking churches to put us in their 2015 budgets. We just need to operate within our means so that we can continue to help people,” he said.
Financial contributions can be mailed to COPE Food Pantry, 900 N. Alleghany Ave., Covington, Va. 24426.
