Paper is getting expensive. We need help
P.S. Also, Tomorrow evening is the Cambridge Pantry Food Giveaway; thanks to you and others, every pantry member will get a frozen turkeyand all the trimming. Thanks. I’ll be there. Abobe, the pantry chapel is stuffed with Thanksgiving food—all the trimmings.
Above: Bananas on the shelf.
The cost of paper has surged, and food pantry banks are no longer able to purchase it. This is not just a financial issue for the pantries but a community problem.
The rising costs are forcing food pantry members and patrons to make difficult choices, sacrificing food for necessities like toilet and towel paper.
Sarah is reaching out for help, and community support is crucial. For the first time, the pantry is facing a shortage of paper products, and she’s hoping we can help.
I set out to understand the rising cost and had no trouble finding out why:
The cost of paper products is rising primarily due to a combination of factors, including increased demand for packaging materials from the e-commerce boom, supply chain disruptions caused by the pandemic, rising energy costs, labor cost increases, and a shortage of wood pulp caused by reduced timber production. These factors, particularly impacted by global events like the war in Ukraine, are leading to a gap between supply and demand for paper products.
Food pantries are especially sensitive and vulnerable to fluctuations in food and paper products. This is yet another painful problem for these families.
I’m grateful for how much I am learning and am eager to share. There is so much to keep track of.
If you can, please help out. Here are the best prices Sarah could find for tissue and paper towels. They are much lower than supermarkets.
Toilet paper prices are also soaring; we’ll get to that later.
Sarah’s choices:
“We are out of both items,” reports Sarah. We used to get them through the Regional Food Bank, but now they are unaffordable, so we are going without them. We would be grateful for any help. People really appreciate it when we have them.”
Thanks for helping. You can access the Cambridge Food Pantry Amazon Food List anytime, day or night, and make your own choices if you care to. Everything on the list is urgently needed, as the number of people needing food support and government subsidies are falling.
