In March, we toured Maistobankas, a food bank in Klaipeda,
Lithuania where food donations from local grocers and farmers are sorted to be
handed out to hungry people.
Families are spending more on groceries everywhere not because
they have growing families, but because food inflation has spiked over the last
few years. To help stretch their budgets people are turning to food banks as a
solution to help feed their families.
In the past, food insecurity was felt mostly by pensioners and
low-income families, now it’s affecting more and more people like families with
children, students and refugees. It is estimated 10,000 people go to the food
bank at least once a year or more.
Maistobankas in Klaipeda is making a difference. In the large
warehouse there is a modest kitchen where daily hot meals are prepared and
served five days a week. “No one is turned away that comes for food”, said Irene
who is the director.
We arrived an hour before the doors opened for the lunch crowd. In
the front room, were two volunteers, peeling large bags of potatoes over buckets
by hand. In another part of the kitchen, a woman shreds carrots by cranking them
through a countertop grater. Someone else was making cooked vegetables in a
roasting pan. We observed hot food in chaffing pans. Everybody was busy doing
something. A long line was forming outside the front door. They serve 150 hot
meals every day.
One of the women we saw began as a regular volunteer. She was so
reliable and knowledgeable; the director hired her as the full-time head chef.
Now, every day she plans menus and coordinates volunteers.
Our attention was drawn to appliances that were worn-out, broken
and inefficient. An oven too small for the daily demand or reach proper
temperatures, a dishwasher where replacement parts aren’t available and require
hours of repairs, refrigerators that stopped cooling and the door shut closed with
duct tape, and freezers stopped working are used as storage bins. There is also
a shortage of proper cooking equipment as we’re told cooking pots are too
small, small electrical appliances belong to volunteers, not enough utensils to
serve food and the list goes on.
The food bank is serving 150 people every day in a kitchen
suited for half that. We went into Irene’s office to discuss opportunities how
the Church can help. Irene didn’t want to ask for anything. She told us that
anything we donate will be enough and put to good use.
We advised her, the Church could include all the items she
needs. We asked her to send us a list of items with her most urgent needs at
the top. We’ll need product details, with prices and local vendors.
A couple weeks later, we received an email where
Irene proposed several kitchen appliances and equipment. Right now, we are
developing a project implementing Maistobankas as our partner for an oven, dishwasher,
grill, pots and pans, small appliances, and a host of other essential kitchen
items.
We admire
Irene for the wonderful work and service she is contributing to provide hot
meals to her community.
