‘Helping Neighbors’ Enters The Final Stretch: Help Close The Funding Gap By New Year’s

 HARWICH – By all accounts, 2025 promises to be a big year for the Family Pantry of Cape Cod. By the end of 2024, the organization expects to have provided a record 165,000 bags of groceries to its clients — over 4 million pounds of food — never mind the tons of clothing it will have distributed. And there’s every indication that 2025 will see even stronger demand.

 Family Pantry Executive Director Christine Menard said it’s time for people to reimagine their idea of what a typical Pantry client is like. For everyone, grocery bills remain incredibly expensive, prompting more and more people to turn to food pantries for extra support. Every week, the organization gives help to people who’ve never before needed to seek charitable help to feed their families, Menard said.

 Clothing is also increasingly expensive. Volunteers from the Family Pantry receive and sort tons of donated clothing each year, and items — particularly warm clothing like sweaters — fly off the racks almost as quickly as they’re made available to clients. Families who have the means to buy new clothing are increasingly turning to thrift shops like the Pantry’s Second Glance to save money on quality clothes.

 The bottom line, Menard said, is that the Pantry has become a resource for ordinary working people on Cape Cod, not just folks who’ve fallen on hard times. It comes down to the high cost of living in Barnstable County, where housing is scarce and prohibitively expensive. There are still many jobs available, but hourly wages aren’t keeping pace with expenses.

 “You know, when your average rent is $2,500 to $2,800 a month, it kind of knocks that hourly wage right down. I don't see it ever changing, between the seasonality of this place and the straight cost of living,” Menard said. Studies show that a person needs to earn $135,000 a year in order to live on Cape Cod. “Our families don't have jobs that provide $135,000 a year. So I don't think [the need is] ever going to go away. It might ebb and flow, but the Pantry unfortunately will have to be here forever,” she said.

 Still, thanks to its faithful donors, prudent financial practices and hundreds of volunteers, the Family Pantry is up to the challenge, Menard said. Like most charitable organizations, the Pantry relies heavily on year-end giving during the holiday season to provide the funds to operate during the lean months that follow, making The Chronicle’s annual Helping Neighbors drive a key financial boost.

 “This is the first year that we've really seen donations kind of slow down a little bit,” Menard said. “A lot of the money from the COVID era has very much dried up from state and federal funds,” she said, and charitable giving was off in 2024. But with pandemic benefits now ended, demand on the Pantry has increased again, and it will be on an upward trajectory in 2025, she said.

 Thanks to generous donors, all contributions up to the $115,000 goal will be matched dollar-for-dollar provided that the contributions are made by New Year’s Eve, when the campaign ends.

 “Those matching gifts are a great incentive, and it would be a shame to leave them on the table,” Menard said.

To contribute to The Chronicle's Helping Neighbors campaign, click here. You can also mail a tax-deductible contribution to The Family Pantry, 133 Queen Anne Rd., Harwich, MA 02645, or call 508-432-6519 to donate by credit card.