It was a curious year at the Island Food Pantry. One day we had 12 visits; another day we had 89 visits. We had eight per cent fewer families, yet with 2,740 visits for the year — the same number of visits as last year. The pantry posted a record income of $98, 075 and record expenditures of $95,345.

There are 71 of them and they come from all parts of the Island to help. They are the volunteers who help run the Island Food Pantry.

One day last April 91 Islanders visited the Island Food Pantry. Each person collected their allotted three bags of donated food, which meant 273 bags were distributed in a single day. It was a record in the pantry’s 30-year history.

That number is expected to climb in the coming year, pantry director Armen Hanjian said this week.

The Island Food Pantry had a record year. More people relied on the food pantry to augment or support their food needs this past winter than in any previous year. The organization goes back to 1981. Armen Hanjian, coordinator for the nonprofit organization committed to help those in need, said they had a record of 91 visitors in one day. In one week in April they had 196 visits.

The Island Food Pantry unfortunately broke another new record last week. In a span of three days, the pantry gave food to 184 Vineyarders. Of the three days, Monday, March 1 was the largest, with 74 recipients.

Though the snow is gone for now, and the coldest days could be past, “this is the tightest squeeze of the year,” said Armen Hanjian, who heads the nonprofit organziation that provides free food for the Island’s indigent. Work and finer weather have yet to arrive.

The Island Food Pantry, the organization that provides free food for the needy, had its busiest day ever on Wednesday. Seventy-one visitors came for food at the center, in the basement of the Christ United Methodist Church, the stone church in downtown Vineyard Haven.

As the Island suffers the ravages of an increasingly unsteady economy, jobs are evaporating and many families are beginning to feel the squeeze, there has been a surge of interest in the Island Food Pantry. Fortunately, contributions are up, according to Armen Hanjian, coordinator for the Vineyard Haven-based free food program, though harder days may lie ahead.

The Island Food Pantry is facing a tough winter. While contributions of food are up this season, Arman Hanjian, the coordinator, is concerned the need will exceed the supply as it has for the past several years.

The cost of food, heat and general living is the highest it has been in recent memory on the Island. For some Vineyarders, that spells trouble. People living on fixed incomes, the underemployed and unemployed face the greatest peril.