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Food bank officials say inflation is driving more people to use food pantries as the holiday approaches.

Pantry Program Manager Mary Alice Daniels
Stu Johnson
Pantry Program Manager Mary Alice Daniels

During a period of high inflation, food insecurity matters can become more pronounced. A well-known Kentucky food pantry is working to ease some of that stress around the Thanksgiving table.

God’s Pantry workers along with a couple of hundred volunteers are distributing Thanksgiving food boxes this week. By the end of Tuesday, around 65 hundred households in five counties will hopefully have their holiday turkey and all the fixings. Mary Alice Daniels is Fayette County Pantry Program Manager for God’s Pantry.

“Yeah, our numbers are up about a thousand households, close to a thousand. I think a lot of that is just inflation. Too expensive to go to the grocery,” said Daniels.

Just talking turkey, Daniels said the cost went from about $100,000 to $150,000. For Lexington’s distribution off Richmond Road, recipients must be residents of Fayette County.

This is the 29th year God’s Pantry workers, along with volunteers are collecting and placing food baskets in cars. Daniels noted inflation is also affecting the weekly food assistance effort.

Stu Johnson

“We were serving about 500 families a week through the Fayette County Pantry Program. Now we’re like at 700 a week. And that’s just Fayette County. We know eastern Kentucky is struggling with the floods. There’s an ongoing need from that too,” said Daniels.

Daniels added some 65 hundred Thanksgiving food boxes will go to households in Fayette and four other counties.

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Stu has been reporting for WEKU for more than 35 years. His primary beat is Lexington/Fayette government.
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