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Brotherly Love: Food Pantry Needs A Boost

By Ukee Washington

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- One of Philadelphia's oldest HIV and AIDS charities is hurting for help. The organization is called Bebashi. It gives a week's worth of food to as many needy people as it can. But as I found on a trip there, the demand is outstripping supply.

Domonique McClendon is doing one of her hardest jobs: rationing food. She's putting together a bag of groceries for a client of Bebashi's food pantry on Spring Garden Street.

"This really is a last resort for a lot of them," said McClendon, who is a medical case manager who also manages the food pantry.

Ernest Wilson is just one of about 500 people who get food from Bebashi. "This will help carry me through so I'm not sitting in the house with an empty stomach," Wilson said.

Many days, this pantry doesn't have enough food to go around.

"We can't keep food on the shelves because people are coming in every day for food," said Gary Bell, executive director of Bebashi.

Canned veggies grow scarce. The freezers run low on meat quickly. When there's not enough food to distribute, the pantry must close. Volunteer Sophia Abdelsalam says that's hard news to deliver to clients, who are only allowed to get food from Bebashi once a month.

"They're just really almost, like, desperate for help. They're low income. They don't have many resources. They really do need us," Abdelsalam said.

Bell says they'd love to be open every day, but it can be several days between new shipments of food.

"And then we don't really get a lot of donations, either. We really have to raise money to acquire food," Bell said.

The money helps pay for discounted food from Philabundance. Bebashi hopes to bring in more non-perishables, cans of veggies and meat, breads, fruits. They say as fast as those foods come in, they'll go out.

"I can promise you that it would get used and it would go home with somebody," said Domonique.

Monetary donations go to purchase food. Donations can also be dropped off right on site. To help, contact Domonique McClendon at 215-769-3561 x132 or email her at domoniquem@bebashi.org

 

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