Great Barrington — Local musicians are coming together to help out The People’s Pantry at a benefit, “Pullin’ For The Pantry,” on Thursday, September 22 at the Egremont Barn. The benefit, which will start at 7 p.m., will include performances by the BTU’s, Tyler Fairbank, Wanda Houston, Rees Shad, The Conversations, and Misty Blues.
The nonprofit organization, which has been operating since 2017 at Saint James Place and has 175 volunteers, has helped Great Barrington residents, and residents from surrounding towns, deal with food insecurity since 1999. In 2019, The People’s Pantry served 500 clients a month, but as of this year, the organization is serving more than 2,000 clients.
Due to the increase in clients, the organization’s operational expenses have risen by 500 percent from 2018 to 2021. Earlier this year, the organization started a fundraiser which intends to raise $300,000.
According to event organizer, People’s Pantry board member, and volunteer Rees Shad, so far the organization has raised $170,000 of its goal.
“But we’re all impressed with the way the community has been coming together and has been financially supporting us,” Shad said. “As part of the concert, we’re also having a raffle and an auction that we already started online. It has been amazing to see how many local shops and restaurants have come forward with gift certificates and giveaways for the benefit. The community has all come together for us, and that has been very heartening.”
Shad will also be performing at the event, and he said the organization needs support now more than ever. “The situation is just continually getting worse,” he said. “It’s overwhelming sometimes to look at the world and to try to figure out how to help to make things better. This is one way that we can pay it forward. At the pantry, we are seeing numbers of people in need about as high as it has ever been. While the pandemic has receded a bit, inflation is high. If you go to the grocery store, how much can you fill a bag for $50 bucks? It’s gotten tough for everyone.”
Shad said that The People’s Pantry is an almost entirely volunteer organization, with one person on staff who works part-time on staff 10 hours a week. “So it all comes down to funds for the upkeep of our equipment, and the purchasing of food,” he said. “A lot of food we get is on sale from a whole bunch of different suppliers and sources. But our expenses are at least 10 times what they were before 2018.”
Shad added that he encourages as many people as possible to buy tickets for the event and to volunteer at the pantry. “This is an excellent way to give back to the community, and there also will be wonderful music,” he said. “These musicians give it their all, and I couldn’t be any more proud to work with them. We are always looking for volunteers at the pantry.”
All proceeds raised at the event will go to the organization.
For more information about the event, along with information about the raffle, go to the event’s website.
For more information about The People’s Pantry go here.
