Disruption in the supply chain during COVID-19 is having a negative impact on virtually every aspect of life, and agencies that provide critical services to those in need are no exception.
However, COVID-related changes made in The Paducah Sun’s annual Groceries for Good campaign, now in its 29th year, is helping the Merryman House Domestic Crisis Center fulfill its mission.
Merryman House is committed to improving the lives of those affected by domestic violence, and is the only certified domestic violence program in the eight counties of the Purchase Area Development District.
Its mission is to help victims find refuge, provide food and shelter, support them in court and help them become financially stable and visibly strong.
Amy Abernathy is director of operations at Merryman House, which includes nutritional services.
The center serves lunch and dinner Monday through Friday (expect for holidays) and stocks a 36-bed shelter with items clients may need on the weekends or in the morning such as breakfast items, canned goods and other non-perishables.
“Anywhere from 60-100 meals can go out of the kitchen in a day, depending on the client base,” Abernathy said.
Worrying about whether or not they can provide food for their families during the holidays is an added stressor for clients, she added.
Traditionally in Groceries for Good, Merryman House would take food items that were donated and package them up for housing and outreach clients to take to their home.
“When 2020 came, it (Groceries for Good) looked a little different, because we didn’t get actual physical goods. We got gift cards, which was great for us because during COVID we had to have alternate living situations,” Abernathy said.
“And, in order to keep clients from being in communal living, that meant we were literally doing groceries for multiple clients in their own rooms so that was a huge cost for us the past year-and-a-half.”
While that situation has gotten a little better, supply chain issues and the rising cost of food continue to be a challenge for the organization.
“The price of items has gone up immensely and our (food) wholesaler has really had a hard time. We can put in a $1,400 order on a weekly basis and get about $800 worth of food because they’re unable to get their hands on things,” Abernathy said.
That means Merryman House has to go to the grocery store and pay non-wholesale prices.
“So, even though Groceries for Good looks different these last couple of years, it was really a good change for the times that we’re in right now. It really helps our bottom line where we can allocate those funds (that would otherwise be used for food purchases) somewhere else like client services and those sort of things,” she said.
Donation boxes are set up at five different grocery stores in the Groceries for Good campaign: Paducah Kroger stores on Irvin Cobb Drive, Hannan Plaza and Park Avenue, Forthman Foods IGA in Kevil and Food Giant in Reidland.
In addition to Merryman House, charitable organizations participating include: Family Service Society, Hope Unlimited, Paducah Cooperative Ministry, Paducah Day Nursery, River City Mission, St. Vincent de Paul and The Salvation Army.
The Paducah Sun has set up a PayPal account to collect donations, which can be accessed on the newspaper’s website, paducahsun.com.
Abernathy wants the public to know how important the donations are to the participating agencies.
“Don’t let not being able to buy tangible items make you feel like you’re doing anything less,” she said. “If anything, you’re giving the agency more freedom to get the items they need to serve the people that they work with every day.”
Follow David Zoeller on Twitter, @DZoeller_The Sun.
Follow David Zoeller on Twitter, @DZoeller_The Sun.
