The Rhinelander Area Food Pantry, now serving between 500 to 700 families each month, keeps a small section of personal items for customers. Hand soap, toothpaste, toilette paper, shampoo and other toiletries are offered, but each family is allowed to choose only one item.
With the economic downturn, these kinds of personal and household items take up a larger portion of a family budget. “The gross monthly income per family that comes to the food pantry averages just over $1,000 per month,” said Carole Hansen, a food pantry volunteer. "That's not very much when it comes to taking care of the needs of an individual, let alone a family."
With this in mind, a new pantry is opening in Rhinelander. On Saturday, April 25, from 9 a.m. to noon, the Personal Essentials Pantry (PEP) will begin offering individuals and families a range of personal and household items. The pantry is located at the First United Methodist Church, 724 Arbutus St.
The idea came from the church’s pastor, Rebecca Neal-Niese. PEP co-coordinator Barb Oestreicher explained that “Pastor Rebecca recognized there was this need in the community for those who qualify for using the food pantry, the WIC program and the Food Share [food stamp] programs. Because of the turn of events in the economy, buying these personal items is taking an even bigger chunk out of the family budget.”
In the past months, Oestreicher, along with Shirley Bettinger and a group at First Methodist, have been collecting items and financial donations to get the pantry going. “All the setup costs have been paid for by church members and friends of the church,” Oestreicher said. “One hundred percent of the financial donations we receive are used to buy items for distribution.”
The pantry will be open the last Saturday of each month from 9 a.m. to noon. Oestreicher, who retired from her job with the Department of Transportation in December, has been organizing and collecting for the pantry, amassing a storeroom-full of supplies.
She admits she has no idea of what will happen, come April 25. “We could have 200 families, we could have 400 families,” she said. “We’ve distributed brochures around; the word is definitely out there – we’re seeing high interest. I’m just hoping we don’t run out of the basics.”
Customers of PEP will need to show eligibility through their registration with the Rhinelander Area Food Pantry, or with the government’s WIC or Food Share programs. Each family will be allowed six visits to the pantry per year.
Qualifying customers will be greeted by personal pantry volunteers and shown to a waiting room in the church, where they can sit and have coffee and refreshments while the pantry workers assess their family’s needs and then bring them a box or bag of items.
“We’re modeling our approach after the Zion Lutheran Church in Madison’s setup,” explained Oestreicher. “We’ll dispense items in given amounts, like two rolls of toilet paper per family, and 10 diapers at a time.
"We’ll have to wait and see how this works,” she added. “There’s a learning curve involved. To the best of our knowledge, this is only the second pantry of this kind in Wisconsin and there are very few nation-wide.”
Items for customers include what’d you’d expect. In addition to toilet paper and diapers, customers will be able to take away laundry detergent, dish soap, hand soap, feminine products, toothpaste and brushes, shampoo, deodorant, cleaning supplies and paper towels.
Donations of these items are much appreciated. Items can be dropped off at the church, or at drop-sites around town, including Trig’s, Curves and WalMart. Items the pantry cannot use include mouthwash, aspirin or anything meant to be taken orally.
Monetary donations are especially appreciated, Oestreicher says, and will be used only for purchasing supplies.
For more information, Oestreicher can be reached at 715-282-5956 or by email at oestrb@frontiernet.net.
