By DAVID DUPONT
BG Independent News
The Brown Bag Food Project has prided itself on being able to deliver to clients products that they cannot get with Food Stamps.
But since October handing out hygiene products, personal care products, laundry and dish soap, and other non-food items has been on hold.
“We’ve been having a difficult time getting hygiene items, so the board just decided to put the brakes on it for a little bit so we can build up some stock,” Peg Holland, board secretary, said.
It got to the point that if clients said they needed something, the food pantry sometimes could not fill the order. It was best just to stop offering it until supplies built up to ease the frustration on both recipients and staff alike.
“Hopefully after the first of the year we’ll revaluate it,” Holland said.
“There’s a large demand. It’s the most expensive area for us to maintain. We don’t get this kind of stuff from the food bank. We have to buy it at retail.”
Those products include dish soap, laundry detergent – Brown Bag prefers pods which can be handed out several at a time, toothbrushes, including children’s sized, diapers, sizes infant to 2XL (which they happen to have quite a few of), razors, soap, deodorant as well as female hygiene products.
These are all in high demand, but low supply.
Brown Bag also had to suspend delivery of pet food.
Donations overall have dropped off, though currently things are better, Holland said. “This is the season of giving. We look flush,” Holland said, looking around the shelving area at the projects office at 530 Sand Ridge Road in BG. But within a week, the shelves could be bare again.
“It’s great if people want to go shopping for us,” Holland said. Or they can donate cash either general or specific purposes.
Brown Bag provides food to last five to seven days for people who are not eligible for other services. Demand is up. “In the last couple months, we broke records,” Holland said. And they’re headed in that direction this month.
But they soldier on with their regular deliveries as well as meeting the needs at holidays.
They provided the fixings for 50 Thanksgiving dinners and will provide the same for Christmas, with people getting a turkey or ham, thanks to Thayer Family Dealerships.
Brown Bag is also working to provide the side dishes, including what’s needed for green bean casserole, dessert, milk, and butter, for 71 families being served by the Dear Santa program.
Brown Bag’s regular hours are Monday, Wednesday, and Friday , 5-6:30 p.m. The office can be reached by telephone at 419-960-5345 or by email at brownbagfoodproject@gmail.com.
