05/23/2025
This post below our current statistics is from 2023 and is still applicable today especially given all the federal cuts to aid that have happened this year.
From January 1, 2025 through May 21, 2025, the B Street Food Pantry has served:
~ 1,676 households
~ 1,179 children and 3,382 adults for a total of 4,561 people
~ 262 unsheltered neighbors
~ 610.5 volunteer hours
Food Banks and Food Pantries need your support now more than ever.
B St. Food Pantry at the Newman United Methodist Church
By David Low, October 25, 2023.
Food pantries are essential for feeding the unhoused and low-income. Government benefits do not always cover the rising cost of food, and many families and individuals who are unable to afford food regularly do not qualify for public assistance. This is where food pantries fill some of the gaps. Whether they’re a part of a church, community center, school, or a nonprofit organization, these locations may offer take-home boxes or bags of groceries, or hot meals, on a daily or weekly basis. With the help of food pantries, millions of people throughout our country who would otherwise struggle to find their next meal, are able to have healthy, wholesome food.
* In Josephine County, 13.5% of all residents and 14% of children are food insecure without any government assistance. Of the total population of 87, 686 in Josephine County, 24,125 or 27.5% receive government assistance in the form of SNAP benefits.
At the B St. Pantry we serve the unhoused and low-income, some of them with SNAP benefits. My wife and I volunteer there, where we hand out fresh produce, bread, dairy, frozen meats, fish and poultry, along with nonperishables. The pantry is open once a week on Wednesdays between 3 & 5 pm. During the month of September, we served on average 76 households and 12 unhoused per week. This equated to 166 adults and 54 children per week. We serve many of the same people each week.
Many of low-income are just a whisper away from becoming homeless. Some of the unhoused live in tents and cars. Many are having difficulty keeping up with the rise in costs for food and other necessities. We see a wide range of people from grandparents who are raising their grandkids while on a low fixed income, to the single mother with eight kids, to senior citizens living in cars, and to a very small minority of street people.
You may call the Josephine County Food Bank at 541-479-5556 to find out which pantries are open today, or you may refer to the attached list of all of the food pantries, kitchens and mobile food trailers supported by the Food Bank.
* Based on 2022 figures provided by the Josephine County Food Bank. See more
