COLUMN: Light may be at end of the tunnel but many in Spartanburg remain in need

It's amazing that we're starting to hear encouraging words from medical officials regarding the COVID-19 pandemic. 

We're "turning the corner," Spartanburg Regional Healthcare System's chief medical officer Chris Lombardozzi said last week.

Starting this week, 2.7 million South Carolina residents in phase 1b – including those 55 and older, those 16 to 64 at higher risk, and teachers – are eligible to be vaccinated, according to David Church, vice president of SRHS.

Federal officials say the U.S. will produce enough vaccines for every adult by the end of May. We're seeing more and more posts of mask-wearing folks around the Upstate with their vaccine card after receiving their shot. 

It's been a long year. We could all use this good news and light, maybe not at the end, but approaching the end of the tunnel.

But for many, recovery and struggle will continue long into 2021 and beyond. Specifically in Spartanburg and across the Upstate, food insecurity issues will be around long after the last vaccinations are administered.

The United Health Foundation's America's Health Rankings states food insecurity as the "Percentage of households unable to provide adequate food for one or more household members due to lack of resources."

According to data from Feeding America, in Spartanburg County, the food insecurity rate for 2020 was at 14.5%, up from 10.5% in 2018. In nearby Cherokee County, the rate is 19.4%, while Union County's rate is 17.6%.

Fortunately, in Spartanburg County, there are a number of organizations working to address these issues, including local food pantries.

As part of the city of Spartanburg's #21DaysofKindness, the Herald-Journal collected and donated two grocery carts full of canned goods, boxed foods and toiletries to the food pantry at St. Matthew's Episcopal Church. 

A special "thank you" to Father Rob Brown, along with food pantry volunteers Reid Beebe and Jim Fulton, for giving us a walk-through and answering our questions about their important service work.

The St. Matthew's food pantry feeds and supports, on average, 60-65 families every week and around 10,000 to 15,000, annually. It takes many hours of coordination and a host of volunteers to assist the community in this tireless manner. 

And getting back to a more "normal" way of life will benefit the St. Matthew's food pantry, as well. Specifically, with the support of VCOM students, being able to bring back the free medical clinics that were suspended due to COVID will be a huge boost to its community efforts. 

St. Matthew's is far from alone in the effort to curb food insecurity in Spartanburg. Click here for a list of Partners for Active Living's Spartanburg Food System Coalition's list of emergency food providers. 

The needs have only increased during the COVID pandemic. 

"I meet with emergency food providers regularly and they were seeing people they'd never seen before when the pandemic hit, and they were seeing more people. We heard that people were having a hard time getting baby formula," said Alissa Duncan, Healthy Communities Coordinator and Food System Coordinator with Partners for Active Living, in an email. "At the same time that food pantries' needs for food were increasing, their volunteer base slumped because folks needed to isolate from one another and many of their volunteers are older."

The Herald-Journal will make a drop-off at a different food pantry every month during 2021. Next up, we're looking forward to helping out and meeting the folks at Spartanburg's Bethlehem Center in early April. 

We encourage you to reach out to one of the food pantries nearest you. Find out their specific needs. We learned, from our visit to St. Matthew's, those needs can often vary.

There are many who are struggling to see the light at the end of the tunnel. We can help get them closer. 

Gabe Whisnant is the news director of the Spartanburg Herald-Journal.  His email address is gwhisnant@shj.com. Follow him on Twitter @GabeWhisnant. 

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