People who rely on food pantries to feed themselves and their families will now have access to a greater range of food thanks to a partnership between Market Basket and the hunger relief organization Second Harvest Food Bank of Southwest Louisiana.

Through the partnership, edible, unused food from more than a dozen local Market Basket stores will be donated to six different brick-and-mortar community based food pantries — like Glad Tiding Church Food Pantry, said Emily Slazer, Second Harvest director of food sourcing.

The food that Market Basket contributes would normally be tossed.

“They’re donating food right in their own communities and working with some of our wonderful partner pantries to rescue food that would otherwise go to waste,” she said. “It keeps it right in the community and serves food insecure neighbors right here in the Lake Charles area.”

For those at Market Basket, partnering with Second Harvest was a no-brainer.

“We are grateful to be a part of an organization that has the means to assist with the needs of those who are experiencing food insecurity,” said David Thompson, CEO of Market Basket. “The same moral and unchangeable foundation upon which we built our stores to serve the community will be applied with the same principles that support everything we do to reach hunger.”

According to Second Harvest, one in seven people in Southwest Louisiana struggles to keep up with the continuous rise in food and living costs. This has inadvertently led to a 33% decrease in donated food, said Natalite Jayroe, CEO and president of Second Harvest.

Additionally, Second Harvest, as well as food banks nationwide, have had dwindling supplies.

Jayroe said Second Harvest has about 2.8 million pounds of food on hand. Usually, their food banks carry four to five million pounds of food.

With food donations down — due to supply chain issues and heightened fuel prices —a program like this is more vital than ever, said Paul Scelfo, chief regional officer for Second Harvest Food Bank.

“This decline in donated food is troubling as summer approaches. Children will soon be out of school for summer break, and residents will face the uncertainty of another hurricane season,” he said. “This partnership with Market Basket will be vital in helping us meet the increasing need, especially with seniors living on fixed incomes and those in rural communities where food insecurity and poverty are higher.”

This partnership benefits the community two-fold. Not only will unnecessary food waste decrease, food insecure locals have greater access to a diversified selection of grocery items.

The foods distributed from the Second Harvest warehouse are usually pantry items, like canned goods. The partnership with Market Basket allows for a wider selection of foods: smoked meats, bakery items, dairy and fresh fruit and vegetables.

At the Market Basket on Ryan Street, donations will be picked up bi-weekly — on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

This partnership creates more responsibilities for staff, leading to a donation of time, energy and work, as well as food.

“It’s extra work that the store staff takes on, and it’s very inspiring that they’re doing the work that is impacting the people they live with,” Slazer said.

Thompson seconded this, explaining the path of least resistance for employees is simply dumping unused food. “It’s always easy to dispose of food in the easiest, quickest form.”

However, any additional effort is worth it to help workers at food pantries.

“They do a job that’s very difficult and we’re glad that we can help make it, hopefully, a little bit easier.”

Gus Rodrigue with the Glad Tiding Church Food Pantry said this will make his team’s workload lighter.

The partnership has already reaped personal and community benefits, Rodrigue said. “Two weeks ago, we had a lady come in chatting about her kids and we asked her if there was any way we could help her.”

He said the mother explained she wasn’t able to get a cake for her son’s birthday. “Market Basket had given us many cakes so we asked her which one she wanted. She looked at me and she started crying, saying ‘I didn’t know how I was going to provide a birthday cake to my child.’ ”

This act of kindness wouldn’t have been possible without Market Basket’s contribution to their food pantry. “Thank you so much for giving to us so we can help people who need it,” Rodrigue said.