After more than 15 years of continuous operation, the Union County Food Pantry is closing. Donations are no longer being accepted, and the last day for residents to utilize the pantry is Aug. 20.
Ninth District Opportunity Community Resource Coordinator Ann Sullivan operates the Food Pantry inside the Haralson Memorial Civic Center on Wellborn Street, and she has decided to close the pantry for a couple of reasons.
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One, the need is being well met by at least seven Blairsville-based churches that operate food pantries: House of Prayer, Antioch Baptist, First Baptist, Mountain Presbyterian, Seventh-day Adventist, New Hope and New Union Baptist.
When Sullivan first started, there was only one other local food pantry, run by House of Prayer Church, and she would see upwards of 80 families a month. Now, she might not see but five or six people picking up food on a monthly basis.
Also, she and her husband, who has mobility issues, are getting older. They personally handle all the donations and regularly obtain additional items from Ingles, so physically re-stocking pantry shelves has gotten to be too much of a challenge.
“I am 73 and (my husband) is 70,” Sullivan said. “He has bad legs, bad knees and a bad back. We go and pick that up and unload it, and I have to take it in and put it on the shelves in the office, and my body is not happy with it anymore.”
Due to budgetary constraints, Sullivan has been the only person working the local Ninth District office since July of last year, so she does not have anyone to assist her with the pantry while she administers the main programs associated with her position.
“I am the only office that has a food pantry where the Ninth District person buys the product and gives it out,” Sullivan said. “The only other office that has a food pantry is Towns County, and they have their own employees and get their stuff from the Food Bank (of Northeast Georgia). Mine’s entirely different, and it’s just gotten to be more than I can do.”
Added Sullivan, “It has been a wonderful blessing for me, but it has come to an end; this old-lady body can’t do it anymore. I physically can’t do it, and my husband can’t do it, so we have opted to close it based on that and we’ve got (seven) other food pantries in Union County now.”
Sullivan remains incredibly grateful to those who have donated to the Food Pantry over the years. She has written to all the pantry’s regular financial contributors and asked them to continue their support by way of giving to other local food pantries.
“I want to thank all the people that have donated money and food to the food pantry,” Sullivan said. “If I tried to name every group and every person, it would take a full page in the paper.
“I never once had to put out a call for donations, people were so generous, and they filled a need for people in need. The Union County people are some of the finest people in the state, and I appreciate all of you that helped.”
Sullivan has been with the local Ninth District office for 15 years, and she said her office will continue to offer its primary programs as long as federally budgeted grant funds allow. More information on the continuation of federal grants should be available this fall.
Some of the more popular NDO programs each year are the heating and cooling assistance opportunities to help pay for power bills in low-income households, however, cooling program funding for the current fiscal year has already been expended.
According to ndo.org, “Ninth District Opportunity, Inc. is a private Non-Profit corporation founded in 1967 to carry out the mandate of the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964. NDO’s primary purpose is to work in partnership with low-income people, promoting access to opportunities leading toward Self-Development, Self-Reliance, and Self-Determination.”
