March 7, 2014 at 2:21 p.m.
As winter drags on, more people visiting pantries, Goodwill to stretch their dollars
As winter drags on, more people visiting pantries, Goodwill to stretch their dollars
By Kayla Thomason-
Goodwill
Although customers tend to come in more during the summer, Goodwill is still seeing a fair number of people this winter, store officials said.
Cindy Lambert, area team leader at Goodwill, has noticed a lot of people stretching their dollars by taking advantage of sales.
One of Goodwill's sales is Color of the Week, which is where some items have a particular-colored tag indicating a percentage off the regular price. After a tag has gone through its fifth rotation, the items in the store are 50 percent off.
Women's apparel makes up 50 to 60 percent of their sales, according to Lambert.
Another special promotion is Senior Day, which is on Tuesday, and that also adds another percentage off.
Lambert has noticed that people who had been visiting Goodwill several times a week have started coming once a week and purchasing more items.
The donated items people purchase are rated as good, better and best, so people are getting things of decent value.
"If it's a top-name brand like Tommy Hilfiger or another brand we're going to up the price a little bit to get the dollar value but if it's a normal name brand it might just go under the 'good' and anything that is not used [in the store] we recycle everything," Lambert said.
If an item has a hole in it, they put it in salvage to make it into gloves, pillows or any other thing as part of their Goods Made Good program.
People do what they can to make their dollars count and Goodwill does what it can to provide quality items to customers.
The Rhinelander Area Food Pantry
The Rhinelander Area Food Pantry has been averaging about 20 new people a month, according to manager Jane Motowski.
January saw 29 new people among the 663 households using their services, which is a little on the high side as they normally see 613 households represented, Motowski said.
The harsh, cold winter which has brought with it high propane and electric costs, and the economy are factors in the increased need for the food pantry, Motowski believes.
"The winter has been so long and so cold and people have high heating bills and high electric bills and we just can't win," Motowski said.
Some people have had to choose between eating and paying their heating bills, she said.
"People are just having a hard time and then, of course, at the beginning of the year I had all the people who had their food stamps cut for one reason or another so they didn't have that coming in and you have to eat," Motowski said.
Fresh produce is highly sought after. The food pantry picks up Walmart's "Feeding America" donations, which include fresh produce.
They portion out food for families of one to three, four to six, and seven and up. The average household size they see is one to three family members.
The food pantry is open Monday from 3 to 6 p.m., Wednesday from 4 to 7 p.m., and Saturday from 10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. for distribution. Donation drop-offs are Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
If someone wishes to apply for the food pantry they can just walk in. They should bring a Wisconsin Public Service bill or a fuel bill as well as a picture I.D. for their first time. Eligibility is determined by income.
Ruby's Pantry
Ruby's Pantry is new to Rhinelander and seems to be very popular.
"I'm not surprised [that there is a need for Ruby's] because of the fact that a lot of our services in Rhinelander and in Oneida County have income limits and because a lot of the families don't qualify for those services I believe there is a need," said Chrissy Peterson, Ruby's Pantry organizer. "Those families that live paycheck to paycheck are the families that don't qualify for any type of assistance through the county, the state or within our city boundaries."
Pastor Bob Messerli of Grace Foursquare Church was a bit more surprised than Peterson was with how great a need there is for food pantries in our area.
"The economy definitely has an effect and that's where we are discovering that there is a need that is bigger than I thought," Messerli said. "[Ruby's first day] went very well, the response was overwhelming. We were thinking 'maybe we'll have 200-250 shares of food that would go out' and we had 300 shares total and had to turn people away at the very end. So next time we are going to have 400 shares of food available."
Registering for Ruby's, which involves getting a number and filling out a simple questionnaire that doesn't involve income, starts at 4 p.m. At Ruby's first event there were people lined up at the doors by 2:45 p.m. to ensure they could get food. Messerli guessed there were about 100 people waiting.
Peterson said the bitterly cold weather has had an impact on families who are struggling to make ends meet.
"Because of these polar vortexes that have been entering the Northwoods on and off for the last couple of months, it's hurt many parts of the working districts in Rhinelander, not only in Rhinelander but the surrounding communities as well and I think it is those families that will also benefit from Ruby's Pantry, those families that are on unemployment this year," Peterson said.
She said they try to make the people who come through the line feel welcome.
"I think giving them a warm welcome, meeting everyone in the line, going and having conversations with them all I think is what really matters the most and I think that is what Ruby's Pantry is all about, is just coming together and helping everyone that needs help and loving everyone," Peterson said.
Ruby's Pantry is located at Grace Foursquare Church and a new Ruby's will be coming to Lac du Flambeau.
Ruby's is open to everyone and income does not play a factor in whether or not someone can get food. Ruby's only request is a $20 donation.
People from as far away as Weston and Crandon came to Ruby's on the first distribution day and pantry organizers were happy to see them, Messerli said.
"We're doing it obviously for people to have food but we're also doing it to touch people's lives, to let people know somebody cares," he said.
Kayla Breese may be reached at [email protected].
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