“It’s really helpful for my family,” Rano said.
But there wasn’t any toilet paper that day because donations at the SCAC have been down for nearly a year.
The Springboro Community Assistance Center was created in 2007 when Mental Health Coordinator Wendy Grothjan and her colleagues at Springboro Schools saw many families struggling.
The SCAC supports families facing challenges such as layoffs, single parenthood or inadequate wages. During the school year it provides backpacks of nutritious food for students on free and reduced lunch programs.
SCAC partners with Shared Harvest to provide the backpacks and other items. Shared Harvest’s inventory has been impacted by recent cuts at the U.S. Department of Agriculture. However, volunteers noticed fewer items on the shelves before those cuts were announced.
“We’re having the same number of food drives, but the volume coming in from them is lower,” said Inventory Control Manager Heather Gosselin. “The summer months are already slower and this year we don’t have any cushion.”
Many regular clients are seniors on fixed incomes or families dealing with lost jobs, or special needs.
Carla and her nephew Nick are regulars at the pantry. Carla home schools and cares for Nick, who has Down syndrome, full-time to help her sister. They learned about the SCAC from a retired teacher who assists with Nick’s schooling.
“It just helps on the bills and allows us to pay for some activities for Nick,” Carla said. (Nick added that he would love someone to donate more gluten-free Oreos!)
Using the pantry to ease an overall household budget is a common theme. Most customers earn too much either through work or Social Security to qualify for food stamps. When they do, food stamps don’t go far enough.
“This is how we supplement so we can buy gas,” said Francine. “I can’t imagine doing without it.”
Michael has been visiting the SCAC’s pantry for three years to pick up basics that make simple meals for him and his brother who has a disability. He loves when people donate Girl Scout cookies.
Vietnam veteran Karl rides his scooter — rain or shine — to the pantry to get food for himself and his dog. He said affording food is just getting harder and harder.
Gosselin speculated that costs are the reason donations are down. All families are finding it harder to keep their refrigerators and pantries full.
“The cost of everything is just so high,” she said. “We’ve been very fortunate since COVID we could target some specific foods and expand into non-food items.”
Grothjan and Gosselin fear that unmet needs will lead to difficult choices.
“People rely on us and we have as many as 150 households come through the pantry every month,” Grothjan said. “Our community is very generous and we know they do everything they can. We’re hopeful but we need to fill our shelves so our regular customers can maintain that hope.”
SCAC’s choice pantry is open on the second and fourth Mondays of each month, including the summer months. June is Hunger Awareness Month nationwide and the SCAC will be increasing its requests for donations.
Most needed items include toilet paper and paper towels; laundry detergent; flour, sugar and other baking ingredients; breakfast cereal and oatmeal; canned fruit, meat and beans; snacks like chips and pretzels; and cookies.
It does not need canned green beans or corn and encourage boxed items such as cereal, and canned goods.
For a complete list of what the SCAC needs the most and volunteer opportunities, please visit the website at springborocommunityassistance.org.
Meredith Moss writes about Dayton-area nonprofit organizations and their specific needs. If your group has a wish list it would like to share with our readers, contact meredith.moss@coxinc.com. Please include a daytime phone number and a photo that reflects your group’s mission.
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