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Need for food, heat up significantly, keeping Potsdam-Canton area food pantries, neighborhood centers busy

Posted 12/21/14

By MATTHEW LINDSEY With the holiday season in full swing – and heating bills coming due – officials at St. Lawrence County food pantries and Neighborhood Centers say the need for food, housing, …

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Need for food, heat up significantly, keeping Potsdam-Canton area food pantries, neighborhood centers busy

Posted

By MATTHEW LINDSEY

With the holiday season in full swing – and heating bills coming due – officials at St. Lawrence County food pantries and Neighborhood Centers say the need for food, housing, heating and Christmas gifts has increased significantly.

“The need is definitely up…I think the biggest increase is people in need of rental assistance,” said Potsdam Neighborhood Director Daisy Cox.

In Canton, nearly 1,500 individuals are receiving help from the Canton Neighborhood Center and the Church and Community Program, a big increase from last summer.

Helping Hands of Hannawa Falls, one of the busier helping agencies in the county, has assisted over 4,300 individuals this year in the food pantry alone and more than 6,000 have received help from the center in other ways.

But donations of food, money and other items continue to be a challenge for many of the agencies.

42% Increase Since July

“In July we helped 575 individuals and in November it shot up to 819,” said Raymond Crosby, director of the Church and Community Program, one of two organizations serving the greater Canton area. The Canton Neighborhood Center also assists residents in Hermon, DeKalb, Crary Mills, Russell, Rensselaer Falls, DeGrasse, Clare and Pyrites.

Crosby said he believes the increase is due to the return of the heating season, which cuts into many families’ grocery money.

“The application date for HEAP was later this year and we had a cold October. People have to heat their homes first,” he said.

The Church and Community Program holds a holiday tree program providing Christmas presents for over 400 kids.

“All of the kids get presents. Cash donations from Wal-Mart fill in the gap to provide gifts to every child,” he said.

This year the program teamed up with Victory Sports in providing over 130 Canton school hoodies for students who chose one as their gift.

People can receive food twice a month from the community program and depending on family size will receive enough food for three meals a day for five days for each family member.

“Each Monday we get more than 2,000 pounds of meat, produce and bread through Wal-Mart and by Thursday it is all gone. There is no waste…a local farmer takes any scraps of things that we might have had to throw out,” he said.

The Church and Community Program is located at 7 Main St. and they can be reached at 386-3534.

The Canton Neighborhood Center says it is serving 220 households which equals out to around 650 people, according to Leacy Dupre, director.

“We are seeing an increase of late of people asking for help…with working families seeming to be the most in need,” Dupre said.

People can receive assistance with their utilities, heating and weatherization. They also offer a thrift shop that sells low-cost Christmas presents, clothes, household items, small appliances and more, Dupre said. The program serves as a liaison between people in need and other organizations that can better assist them.

The Neighborhood Center is at 5 West St. and their phone number is 386-3541.

Recovering From Electric Bills

People are still trying to recover from the high National Grid bills from this past year, according to Cox.

“Once you fall behind it is hard to get back on track…and we try to help people out with that,” she said.

Those in need can apply for multiple food supply packages. Some are income-based and others are less financially restrictive.

“People who are normally above the income guidelines for most programs can a lot of times get food donations three or four times per year,” she said.

Donations are not as high as in past years and the center can always use food, toiletries and cash donations, Cox said.

Volunteers are also in demand to help unload trucks and sort food.

“It is hard because we are open when most people are working…but any amount of time is a help, Cox said.

“We are grateful for people stepping up and donating their time…our area has people in it that want to work…that are working hard but still struggle just to get by,” she said.

To contact the Potsdam Neighborhood Center, call 265-3920.

Help With Free Vehicles

In addition to offering things to eat, ways to stay warm and furniture, Helping Hands, 5868 State Highway 56, Hannawa Falls, and even helps some needy residents obtain a free or low-cost vehicle.

“For a small community we offer a lot…we have furniture here and provide food to people from other towns who may have ran out. We serve people from all over the eastern part of the county,” said Program Director Tom Chappell.

“The biggest need I see is for quality housing. Students take up all the good housing and all other affordable rentals seem to be 20 miles out of town,” he said.

They also provide assistance with mortgage payments, heating and even cars.

“The car-share program has been wonderful,” Chappell said.

Helping Hands provides donated vehicles, when available, to people who have a job and are struggling to get by but cannot afford to buy a vehicle.

“The whole thing is free…we take the cars to SUNY Canton and their automotive program fixes any issues with them and not only gets them to pass inspection, but makes sure they are safe and reliable,” he said.

Helping Hands gets food donations from IGA as well as breads from Price Chopper and Freihoffer’s. Local farmers donate veggies when they have a surplus, he said.

“We help however we are able to. We had a woman call us because she was out of fuel…one of our volunteers took her to Canton to apply for help and she was able to get fuel delivered that day,” Chappell said.

To contact Helping Hands, call 268-0633.

Big Donations a Challenge

In the Norwood-Norfolk area, bigger donations are sometimes harder to come by, according to Norwood-Norfolk-Raymondville Outreach volunteer Mary Jane Purves.

“We have had a lot of small donations this year which are adding up,” she said.

Purvis noted that her area has seen fewer families apply this year but said that she believes people moving out of the region is the reason for it.

“The program assists 123 households…which comes out to about 350 individuals,” Purves said.

“One neat thing this year is that we will have a handmade quilt for Christmas for every child in the program,” she said.

Last year, a volunteer made 60 quilts to donate to kids and opened up the idea to the community and others have joined in, Purves said.

“I think families are most grateful for our school supplies giveaway. We purchase enough to last through Christmas because never go on sale after school starts each fall,” she said.

The outreach program also offers clothing items such as coats, mittens and hats. They accept gently used clothing of all sizes.

Senior citizens reportedly make up about 15 percent of people receiving assistance.

“Seniors value the chance to prepare a meal for family…they can receive vouchers for fruit, veggies, milk and even a turkey or chicken for the holidays,” Purves said.

Purves said the program is thankful for the generous support from the community including students who make collect donations at BOCES and the Norwood-Norfolk elementary school.

To find out more about donating, volunteering or to receive assistance, call 384-4492 or 384-4629.

New Faces in Colton, Parishville

Things are busy at the Colton-Pierrepont-Parishville Neighborhood Center with new faces in need of help with food, toiletries and financial assistance, according to Julie Vaisey, who directs the program.

“We are seeing a lot of people who get laid off for winter…lots of seniors who need some help,” she said.

The center has been busy providing help with people who are having trouble paying for fuel and utility bills.

“We do a lot of referrals to other agencies...for working families who are having problems like a furnace breaking down,” she said.

One goal of the center is to help families become self-sustainable and set and meet goals. Ways of helping include assistance attaining a GED, fixing financial credit, weatherization programs and guidance in buying a home.

“The idea is to get people into a position where they no longer need help,” Vaisey said.

Right now the center serves about 100 people but Vaisey said she trying to “beef that number up” and hopes to increase awareness and let people know that help is available.

Vaisey said that all three locations now offer more food than they previously were able to. New freezers have allowed meat to become available at all locations.

“People can go to the closest location and expect to receive the same amount, variety and quality of food at any of the sites,” she said.

The centers are located at town offices in Parishville and Pierrepont and at 9 Sugarbush Lane in South Colton. For more information, call 244-0069.

Without all of the help from people in the town offices and volunteers this job would be so much harder to do,” she said.

“We are always accepting new applications and people can pickup food the same day they apply, Vaisey said.

Food Pantry Phone Numbers

Food pantries and Neighborhood Centers available in the Greater Canton-Potsdam area include:

The Canton Neighborhood Center, 5 West St, 386-3541; Church and Community Program, 7 Main St., Canton, 386-3534; Free Will Meal Program, 41 Court St., Canton; The Colton/Pierrepont/Parishville Center Pantry, centers are located at town offices in Parishville and Pierrepont and 9 Sugarbush Lane, South Colton, 244-0069; Norwood/Norfolk/Raymondville Outreach, info 384-4492 or 384-4629 and Potsdam Neighborhood Center Pantry, 2 Park St., 265-3920.

Other pantries and centers include the Hermon-DeKalb Junction Food Pantry, 4302 U.S. Highway 11, 347-1557 or 347-3251 Hopkinton Food Pantry, 7 Church St., 328-4168; New Beginnings Center, 3605 County Route 14, Madrid, 322-4307, it serves Madrid, Norwood, Norfolk, Canton, Brasher Falls and Massena; Alms of Love Food Pantry, 3662 County Route 14, Madrid, 262-0222, serves Madrid, Potsdam, Canton, Norwood, Norfolk, and Lisbon; St. Mary’s Church Food Pantry, 17 Lawrence Ave., 265-9680 and the Grasse River Food Pantry, 13 Pestle Rd., Russell, 562-3450.