By Tom Spalding, Volunteer Communications Coordinator
Communicating directly with our audiences through social media and email is something our leadership team does every day. But when you are confident in your mission, your operations and your people, it’s also occasionally a good idea to let others help tell your story. Free media opportunities are rare—and at Boulevard Place Food Pantry, we don’t pass them up.
That’s what happened in late August, when a reporter from WRTV-6 stopped by Boulevard Place Food Pantry on a busy Wednesday morning to get a firsthand look at our drive-through service (9 a.m. to noon) and interview volunteers and staff.
The reporter’s story focused on how local food pantries are seeing unprecedented demand, and how community organizations are stepping up to help. Reporter Casey Zanowic spoke with Pantry volunteers and with Pantry Operations Manager TJ Ranft.
“While we were there, car after car came in to collect food. Volunteers said that’s a normal thing to see each day they’re open,” Zanowic wrote and broadcast after her visit to Boulevard Place. “The cupboard is bare and twice as many people and clients come in, so it’s like total shock. It makes it difficult to know if they will have the food they need.”
Ranft also underscored the challenges of keeping up.
“It’s a tough thing every week to make an order,” he explains about placing bulk orders with our regular provider. “As you look around and you’re like, ‘Oh, it’s not there.’”
The mission of Boulevard Place Food Pantry is to provide food to clients with respect and dignified service. For some, service may mean a single shopping trip that helps make ends meet that day. For others, it means ongoing support as households face persistent inflation and rising costs.
The full story is available online: North side communities face increasing need for food and other resources.
“You would not see this as empty as it is right now, unfortunately,” Ranft told the reporter, referencing the Pantry’s warehouse, where donations are stored before being distributed. “The demand in our surrounding neighborhoods is great. Crown Hill, Butler… a lot of people who had never been to a pantry before are coming in.”
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We take donations online at bit.ly/givetoBlvd.
