As Food Insecurities Rise Volunteers Come Out In Full Force

By: Lacey Shumard

On November 17th cars lined up around the block near the Paris NECAC office filled with families thankful for the assistance, they were about to receive. That assistance was in the form of food boxes. This was all in collaboration with the Monroe City Food Pantry, The Monroe County Extension office with assistance from the Monroe County NECAC office were able to provide the food boxes for families struggling with food insecurities. The Monroe City Food Pantry receives boxes that are distributed across Shelby and Monroe County with multiagency collaboration. The Monroe County Extension assembled volunteers through the extension council and the Monroe County NECAC office for this project. 50 families were served with the last distribution and there are around 900 food boxes distributed across Monroe and Shelby counties. Maggie Middleton with NECAC shares “NECAC was excited to be invited to partner with the extension office to bring these boxes to Paris. NECAC has seen an increase in food insecurity in households that are just above guidelines and are ineligible for state food programs, and we hope this program which has no income guidelines can bring nutritional support to more families in need” Sarah Geist with the Monroe County Extension office spearheaded the project. Thank you to all the organizations and volunteers who came together to help with the food insecurities within our county and state.