People on Martha’s Vineyard are receiving food aid in numbers that local agencies have never seen before. In January the Island Food Pantry served more than 1,000 Vineyard residents.
Every year Armen Hanjian gives a talk to the second graders at the Oak Bluffs School about the Island Food Pantry. One year, a little boy came up and asked him to autograph his hand.
Last November, a temporary stimulus to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) expired, leaving 480,000 Massachusetts residents with fewer funds to stretch throughout the month.
The West Tisbury police department, the West Tisbury fire department and Tri-Town ambulance invite everyone to support the Island Food Pantry by dropping off nonperishable packaged food items to the Public Safety Building across from Conroy’s.
As they entered the Serving Hands Food Distribution late last week, Islanders were confronted with a notice: Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits, commonly known as food stamps, were being cut.
Martha’s Vineyard Hebrew Center is in the midst of its annual Hunger Drive, which supports the Island Food Pantry. During the Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur holidays the Hebrew Center distributed empty grocery bags, courtesy of Cronig’s, to all who attended services. Attached to each bag was a note requesting the bag be filled with nonperishable food items.
It was a tough winter on the Vineyard. One place where this was keenly felt was the Island Food Pantry. Armen Hanjian, food pantry coordinator, said that while the number of people served at the pantry this past winter was slightly down, the pantry spent considerably more than ever before: $106,007, up $10,661.
