Angel Gary said the Center for Lay Ministries' Jeffersonville food pantry helps her family get through the month, and that the ministry is "doing the work of the Lord, truly."(Aprile Rickert / LPM)A 56-year-old food pantry in Southern Indiana recently saw its busiest day in history. The record co mes as area providers say food insecurity has grown in recent years.The Center for Lay Ministries in Jeffersonville served 130 clients on a single Tuesday earlier this month. Executive director Kara Brown said, as of last week, they’ve seen close to 1,200 new people seeking assistance to feed themselves and their families this year alone.“It just seems like we’re seeing a lot of new people and a lot of people just really hungry, needing food, needing help,” she said.‘I thank God’On a recent hot August morning, a few people waited in line outside the Center for Lay Ministries on Maple Street.One of them was Angel Gary, a mother of two boys. She said she’s been coming to the pantry for about two years. She’s also in school studying criminal justice, and wants to work toward becoming a victims’ advocate.“It helps me throughout the month,” she said, of visiting the pantry. “Vegetables and fruit are somewhat expensive…if you’re having to buy them often.”She also gets canned goods and other supplies, including toiletries, to help her family.“I just feel like this is like the most efficient place that I've been to, so I kind of stick with this one,” she said. “I don't really try to go everywhere because I'm not greedy, and I try to just make sure that I'm just getting my portion.”She said she appreciates that this help is available.“I thank God for these people that are here set up in the ministry to feed others,” she said. “They're doing a great work.”Behind the scenesInside the building, staff and volunteers stock shelves, sort food and fill orders for clients.Hannah Burns, who’s starting her sophomore year and studying nursing, said she volunteered a few years ago and started again this July. She said she finds joy in being able to help this way, and appreciates working with the clients, volunteers and management.One of her biggest takeaways is that things can always shift.“I learned that life can change at any moment, and…you can't take things for granted,” Burns said.She says that applies to everything from people’s life circumstances to how the pantry’s supplies vary.“Every day, there's a different number of items on the shelf,” Burns said. “So we could be packed one day, like Friday, we had a bunch of items on the shelf. But today, there's not so many, which means we're helping a lot of people.”Center for Lay Ministries volunteer Hannah Burns said she finds joy in helping out there.(Aprile Rickert / LPM )John Manion started volunteering around a year ago and said the work has helped him find solace as he works through medical issues. He was diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer affecting his neck and head.“It’s just giving me a sense of purpose,” he said. “I probably need this place as much as it needs me.”Manion does a little bit of everything: building boxes, delivering food, unloading trucks, restocking.He said he’s seen an increase in people coming through and can tell how big the need is. He said the pantry always needs more donations and more volunteers.“Kids, come on and take a shift, see what it's about,” he said. “Because you never know, you might be in that situation one day. I think it's good to experience the other side of people that are struggling.”Gary, the client with two boys, said she’s grateful for the support.“This is a great ministry,” she said. “I don't know whether they know it or not, but they're doing the work of the Lord, truly.”Increasing needDare to Care Food Bank, which serves 13 counties in Kentucky and Southern Indiana, recently raised the alarm after a national report showed more people in the area are facing challenges with food than ever before.Feeding America’s annual Map the Meal Gap study estimates more than 200,000 people facing food insecurity in the area, the highest in local partner Dare to Care’s history.“This is no longer a temporary challenge, but this reflects a changing food landscape that food banks and pantries alone cannot solve," Vincent James, President and CEO of Dare to Care Food Bank, said in a news release.Those numbers are from 2024, before recent federal reductions to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP.“While these challenges are significant, they also remind us that ending hunger requires all of us including government, businesses, nonprofits and community working together to strengthen the systems that help families thrive,” James said.The latest numbers include more than 42,000 people faced food insecurity in the five Southern Indiana counties Dare to Care serves, according to spokesperson Alexus Richardson. That’s a nearly 8% increase from 2023 to 2024, with every county feeling it.The Center for Lay Ministries receives food from a few sources: Dare to Care, the USDA and community and corporate donations. Brown said as needs grow, it’s not easy to answer whether they have “enough.”“What is enough?” she said. “The more we have to give away, the more we give to our neighbors.”As they face growing demand and lost funding, Brown said what the ministry needs is anything that will fill the shelves.“There's no wrong answer,” she said.She said between Jan. 1 and Aug. 6, the pantry had had 11,507 household visits and given away more than 514,000 pounds of food. That’s an increase of more than 1,400 more visits compared to last year and more than 70,000 more pounds of food.She talked about the toll of hunger.“Somebody jokes about not having your coffee, and you might get cranky,” she said. “But if you're a little kid trying to go to school and your belly's rumbling, that's a whole different level of, ‘How am I supposed to focus and function?’”The pantry also gives out snack bags with ready-to-eat food, but a recent change means they’re offering them less frequently – five times a month, compared to daily since the COVID-19 pandemic.“We've been a food pantry since 1970 and this is about sustainability for all of our neighbors needing food,” she said.Brown said she thinks the economy — like increasing grocery prices — is driving the need.Widespread needOther Southern Indiana food pantries are seeing higher demand, too.At Hope Southern Indiana in New Albany, then-executive director Becki Romans said in May that they serve around 2,500 clients a month at the food pantry. She said earlier this year they’d been seeing around 100 new clients per month.Heather Liebert, Hope’s interim executive director, told LPM News in a recent email families often need to visit multiple food pantries to get the supplies they need.“With the rising costs of groceries, gas, housing, utilities, and other everyday essentials, many families are finding it increasingly difficult to stretch their budgets,” she said. “Even households that have never needed assistance before are reaching out for help.”Advocates and families say they can’t afford to lose resources.Community members rallied after news in May that the Floyd County Library Board of Trustees had voted late last year to phase out its food pantry.The board voted in June to suspend that plan while a committee looked for solutions. The News and Tribune reported last week that the pantry will remain at the library.Coverage of Southern Indiana is funded, in part, by Samtec Inc., the Hazel Walter T. Bales Foundation, and the Caesars Foundation of Floyd County. ...read more read less