Over the past year I’ve written a fair amount about the many volunteers who’ve enriched the community in Katrina’s aftermath. A far better kept secret is Mississippi’s philanthropic nature. It makes sense when you consider we lead the nation in houses of worship per capita. The intersection of the two have been personally enriching to watch. Last December for example on the old blog we posted a video of the Coast Chorale December 2005 Christmas Concert held with the help of a group of Broadway entertainers who volunteered their time here and in New Orleans then. Since then we covered the Chorale’s trip to DC and Philadelphia suburbs as they thanked the non profits from those places that stepped up for the people at Katrina ground zero.
The group from Buck-Mont Pennsylvania is currently building the new food pantry in Hancock County and it is there we start. Those that *know* me know we are food panty positive at casa Sop. In fact that lady who coordinates the volunteers is most persuasive thus “little Sop” has been an occasional volunteer there. The group of 5 volunteers that literally feed thousands in Hancock County were profiled by WLOX earlier this week. The following evening this story ran, Food Pantries are cyclical endeavors and actually need more support when times are tough:
South Mississippi food pantries say they can already feel the pinch of the economic downturn as more people are coming in asking for help feeding their families. A growing number of families are struggling to stretch their dollars, and many are coming up short.
Whatever food is put on the pantry shelf today, the director of the De l’Epee Deaf Center says will be given out within two weeks.
“The large need was there for several years after Katrina. We were finally seeing a decline,” director Greg Crapo said. “Then with the economy with the last several months, all of a sudden it has spiked right back up again and our numbers are higher than ever.” Continue reading ““This is not extra credit work” plus some joyful notes”
