OWASCO - Sure, the TomatoFest is a good time, a family outing to look forward to each September. But beneath the rides, festival food and piles of green tomatoes, sliced and ready for frying, is a greater cause.
Every year, TomatoFest raises thousands of dollars and collects hundreds of canned goods for local food pantries.
This year's festival comes at a time when pantries say they are hurting more than ever, with more people in need and fewer goods to give them.
More than a year into a national recession, local food pantries are stretched thin as they struggle to provide for up to twice as many families as normal, a surge they credit to job losses, insufficient income and plain dire straits.
And with the whole country tightening its belt, fewer people are donating food, which leaves pantries scrambling to make ends meet as they prepare for what could be their most difficult holiday season in years.
“We're just trying to hang tough,” said Donna Wolfgang, a volunteer with Western Cayuga Food Pantry. “Even though we have less food on our shelves, we've not run out.”
The pantry has seen at least a 25 percent increase in demand - elderly people whose fixed incomes aren't cutting it, families who can't afford to pay the bills and purchase groceries and many who have never needed help before, Wolfgang said.
Donations are down 30 percent. To make the most of what they still have, the pantry spends frugally, using coupons and working to keep their operation costs down, she said.
The pantry started out as an emergency bank that primarily serviced victims of house fires and other catastrophes, but for the past few years has been a daily operation.
“Now,” Wolfgang said, “there's week after week, people who can't afford to function.”
Western Cayuga is among the seven pantries that benefit from TomatoFest, which also donates to the local branch of Meals on Wheels.
Last year, the festival raised about $11,000, a total, festival co-president Janice Sanders said, she hoped to top this year.
“We try to do as best we can, knowing there is no end to the demand these food pantries are seeing every day of the week,” Sanders said.
In addition to vendor and admission charges, the festival raises money from booths, such as Dickman Farms, which sold mums for $6 a pot, that donate their earnings directly to the pantries.
The fried green tomato stand that has become a staple of the TomatoFest was run this year by groups from Immediate Mailing Services and First Niagara Bank, who volunteered their time to fry up about 14 bushels of the tomatoes grown especially for the festival and sold at a discounted price by Wilczek Farms.
This year, the Community Caring Food Pantry on Wall Street has serviced twice as many people, said 10-year volunteer Sandra Fields.
Recently, the pantry has appealed to state legislators to help replenish their depleted supply. Their requests for monetary donations have been answered, Fields said. “But it's not enough.”
Staff writer Sarah Gantz can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 237 or sarah.gantz@lee.net
This year's festival comes at a time when pantries say they are hurting more than ever, with more people in need and fewer goods to give them.
More than a year into a national recession, local food pantries are stretched thin as they struggle to provide for up to twice as many families as normal, a surge they credit to job losses, insufficient income and plain dire straits.
And with the whole country tightening its belt, fewer people are donating food, which leaves pantries scrambling to make ends meet as they prepare for what could be their most difficult holiday season in years.
“We're just trying to hang tough,” said Donna Wolfgang, a volunteer with Western Cayuga Food Pantry. “Even though we have less food on our shelves, we've not run out.”
The pantry has seen at least a 25 percent increase in demand - elderly people whose fixed incomes aren't cutting it, families who can't afford to pay the bills and purchase groceries and many who have never needed help before, Wolfgang said.
Donations are down 30 percent. To make the most of what they still have, the pantry spends frugally, using coupons and working to keep their operation costs down, she said.
The pantry started out as an emergency bank that primarily serviced victims of house fires and other catastrophes, but for the past few years has been a daily operation.
“Now,” Wolfgang said, “there's week after week, people who can't afford to function.”
Western Cayuga is among the seven pantries that benefit from TomatoFest, which also donates to the local branch of Meals on Wheels.
Last year, the festival raised about $11,000, a total, festival co-president Janice Sanders said, she hoped to top this year.
“We try to do as best we can, knowing there is no end to the demand these food pantries are seeing every day of the week,” Sanders said.
In addition to vendor and admission charges, the festival raises money from booths, such as Dickman Farms, which sold mums for $6 a pot, that donate their earnings directly to the pantries.
The fried green tomato stand that has become a staple of the TomatoFest was run this year by groups from Immediate Mailing Services and First Niagara Bank, who volunteered their time to fry up about 14 bushels of the tomatoes grown especially for the festival and sold at a discounted price by Wilczek Farms.
This year, the Community Caring Food Pantry on Wall Street has serviced twice as many people, said 10-year volunteer Sandra Fields.
Recently, the pantry has appealed to state legislators to help replenish their depleted supply. Their requests for monetary donations have been answered, Fields said. “But it's not enough.”
Staff writer Sarah Gantz can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 237 or sarah.gantz@lee.net
Citizen
Hot Jobs
Off the Menu
The Citizens' Say
Post your comment - click hereThere are No comments posted.