Your Impact

Similar to patches that come together to form a quilt, many factors can coincide in a senior’s life that can lead to hunger. From increasing medication costs to high electricity bills in the summer, seniors in Louisiana can battle multiple issues to live a healthy and comfortable life.

Per a recent study released by Feeding America, Louisiana has recently placed highest in the number of food insecure senior citizens. Oscarlene Woods is one of those many seniors in Louisiana facing food insecurity. Currently, Oscarlene is a recipient of boxes filled with breakfast foods, fresh fruits, fresh vegetables, meat and more through our Adopt-A-Senior program.

However, Oscarlene knew about our Adopt-A-Senior program long before qualifying to become a recipient. For years she drove her neighbors at Our Lady of the Lake Senior Housing to pick up their supplemental food boxes.

Eventually, she was able to become a part of the program to ease her own financial strains.

“Sometimes you just don’t have enough money to buy groceries,” said Oscarlene. “When you’re on a fixed income, no matter how much or how little, it always means a lot when you get something that can help you have a balanced meal.”

Oscarlene didn’t expect to be in this situation at her age. She worked in the New Orleans school system for over 25 years; but, she was suddenly dismissed after Katrina hit the Orleans Parish schools. After losing her retirement despite her years of service, she found herself looking for a low-cost place to live while affording daily necessities like food. Today, Oscarlene has one point of advice, “I tell young people to put money away for retirement. Because if you don’t, you’ll end up like a lot of people here who have nobody and no money.”

Nevertheless, when asked what she thought of Louisiana having the largest number of food insecure seniors, Oscarlene stated she is not surprised by the statistic. “I know a lot of people here don’t have a lot, and you can’t always help everybody but the one’s we can, we do,” Oscarlene further explained.

Oscarlene still drives her neighbors to collect boxes on the first Friday of every month but her generosity doesn’t stop there. She and her neighbors combine their resources to create weekly meals to share.

The seniors in Oscarlene’s community not only cook meals together but they go to the store together, go to church together and spend as much time together as they can. “We know we can depend on each other,” said Oscarlene.

Like a quilt, fighting senior hunger takes multiple pieces to keep it together. Not only do the seniors in Oscarlene’s community help fight hunger but so do those who donate food and funds to the food bank. Oscarlene wants those who donate to the food bank to know, “they’re helping people they don’t even know. We all appreciate it and it means so much to us.”

Meet Lisa Sparks, a client of the Greater Baton Rouge Food Bank’s Mobile Pantry Program in Pierre Part, Louisiana. Lisa had never received assistance from the Food Bank or other government programs before the pandemic. Still, she and her family were forced to make some tough choices as the virus affected her household.

“At first I was embarrassed, but then I realized everyone is like this right now, not just us,” expressed Lisa Sparks. With Lisa unable to work due to a disability and her husband having lost his job as a pipe fitter during the pandemic, she and her husband were forced to start receiving SNAP benefits, formerly known as Food Stamps. “I never would have expected something like this to happen to us.”

Lisa was unsure at first about applying for SNAP benefits. She and her husband had some savings but were using that money quickly with little to no income. To add to the stress of paying bills, Lisa and her husband are currently taking care of their 7-year-old granddaughter. “I am 57 years old taking care of a 7-year-old. The stress level is way up, but I wouldn’t put her living with anyone else,” said Lisa. “That’s our granddaughter, we’re going to give her a place to live.”

Lisa says the items she receives at the Mobile Pantry are a great way to make a dinner for multiple people on a tight budget. “The spaghetti sauce can be used in so many ways,” Lisa stated. “My family loves it and I love it, everybody loves a good spaghetti!” Additionally, Lisa is able to get fresh fruits and vegetables with her SNAP benefits.

“Now it doesn’t really bother me to go to the store and slide that card or wait in that long line at your distributions because it really continues to help out while we get back on our feet,” Lisa stated.

With seniors facing high food insecurity rates and Louisiana ranking the highest in the nation for child hunger, the pandemic has made it even harder for unconventional families like Lisa’s to stay food secure. When asked what Lisa would tell other families facing these issues but are afraid of receiving assistance, she stated, “You never know when you may need to ask for help but remember it’s okay to ask for help because it’s not just you.”

The program has been very effective in reaching over 3,400 food insecure kids in our 11-parish service area, but it is rather complex to operate and expensive to fund. While this program will continue to serve children as long as needed, a new School Pantry Program is underway to more effectively reach not only children but also local families who may be struggling with food insecurity.

“The School Pantry Program uses a model that addresses the challenges that low-income families may face in getting access to food assistance. Families in need are often unable to access their local food pantry because of limited transportation options or work schedules that conflict with the pantry opening hours,” said KiEtha Gage, Greater Baton Rouge Food Bank Senior Agency Relations and Programs Manager.

“We have three active school pantries underway now. These school families appreciate the convenience and familiarity of visiting a school pantry that provides regular access to a variety of nutritious food items for their children,” said Gage. “Schools appreciate the ability to improve children’s nutritional status, helping children to attend school without the distraction of hunger so they can focus on academic challenges and opportunities.”

How It Works

Once we secure a commitment from a school site and decide on the model to be implemented, the Greater Baton Rouge Food Bank works with leaders to determine equipment needed, including shelving, tables, refrigerators, freezers and opening hours. The schools are responsible for funding the recommendations for the space. Once the space is ready, our staff on-boards the school as an official TFAP pantry site. 

Schools then use their communication channels to inform the school families of the availability of this service, including flyers, social media and robocalls to remind families of dates/times of food distribution.

“We encourage school pantries to open at least once a week and to stay open during school holidays, if possible, as these can be times of higher need,” Gage said. “We encourage school pantries to use a choice model, allowing families to select the groceries they need as if they were shopping at a store, and we also ask that they allow families to visit weekly. This model seems to be working well for our current school pantries, and we have interest from seven more schools who are looking to implement a pantry on their campus.”