With school out, Omaha families visit food banks to help feed kids

OMAHA, Neb. (WOWT) - With school out for the summer, things just got a bit tighter for families trying to feed children.

Now the kids are home all day missing the two meals offered at school. Some families now lean on food pantries in order to keep the young ones fed during the summer.

Mary Winget has 21 grandchildren and watches some of the kids every day. Now with school out for the summer, every day means more meals at home and growing children can really put it away.

“They want sandwiches and peanut butter until it goes out of the house quick, pancakes by the plates full,” Mary said.

Mary’s is one of the hundreds of families that come to the St. Vincent de Paul Food Pantry to get a little help with the grocery bill - a bill that’s growing higher and higher

“I think I’ve probably heard that all my life but really now the prices of everything really have skyrocketed for people,” said Pantry Manager Garle Reyes.

The St. Vincent de Paul Food Pantry needs tomato sauce, pasta - and ramen is still a favorite.

“The food drives are what keep our pantry open, we would not have the pantry as it is without food drives. We do get orders from the food bank but the food drive brings in a lot of interesting things we can’t get from the food bank, and so we can have a wide variety of things.”

Mary says it’s also nice for the grandchildren to be able to pick up some cookies or other snacks. Everything helps. Mary says coming to the pantry is a relief and they get just enough help here to make it through times when the money gets tight.

“This place pads the cupboards just good enough to get us to Friday when you get paid.”

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