Douglass Community Services: Looking after the community

HANNIBAL, Mo. — Douglass Community Services is a private, not-for-profit agency based in Hannibal. Its service area covers the counties of Marion, Ralls, Monroe, Lewis, Pike, Shelby, Macon and Randolph. The mission of Douglass Community Services is to be a trusted leader in building strong kids, strong families and strong communities.

Programs sponsored by Douglass Community Services are Head Start, CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates), Kids In Motion, emergency food pantry, monthly USDA commodity food, senior food boxes, emergency utility assistance, foster grandparents and the Nifty Thrifty clothing store.

Douglass Community Services helps people in need in many ways, especially regarding food insecurity.

In a press release, Emily Trevathan, COO of Douglass Community Services, said, “At Douglass, we have several different programs that we run for food programs. One is the senior food boxes. They come from the Food Bank of Central and Northeast Missouri. We get those monthly, and we have about 250 seniors in Marion County and about 15 in Ralls who we serve monthly with those food boxes. There is eligibility around that, income and, of course, age.”

Many seniors rely on those food boxes to help them get through the month.

Trevathan said, “We also have veterans’ boxes that we are able to give out to veterans. We also have emergency food for anyone in Marion County. We do USDA commodities as well on a monthly basis.”

To qualify for the USDA program an individual or family must live in Marion County and meet income eligibility guidelines. A food pantry intake form is available on the website for Douglass Community Services.

A new program that Douglass Community Services has this summer is a food program for Palmyra.

Trevathan said, “This summer we are rolling out a summer food program in Palmyra for the Palmyra School District. It’s called a rural non-congregate. It’s kind of like our food boxes that we make but for the kids — five days of lunches that will be going out per week during the summertime.”

For those who have a full refrigerator, food insecurity may be difficult to relate to. Yet so many in our community do rely on food pantries and food boxes to help them feed their families. It’s been said that some families may just be a paycheck away from needing to utilize a food pantry.

Trevathan said, “Our clients can be anyone. It can just be a two-week time in their life, a one- to two-month time in their life when they just need a little extra to get them through. To pay those bills that have accumulated for whatever reason, that has popped up for people who want to see a friendly face. Our seniors might not get out or have as much community, so they see familiar faces.”

For people who can afford to give of their time or talents, Douglass Community Services utilizes volunteers at the food pantry.

Trevathan said, “We utilize volunteers to help with distribution with receiving food from the trucks. Without necessarily handing out food or writing a check, there’s a lot a person can do to assist with the food banks.”

The food pantry volunteers play an important role.

“The people who come to the food pantry, they know our volunteers,” Trevathan said. “They’re looking forward to seeing them. Getting that smile and the acknowledgment that you are somebody.”

The food pantry at Douglass is open from 8:30 to 11:30 a.m. on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday and from 1 to 4 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Whether your donation goes directly to Douglass Community Services or another local food bank, everything donated is to take care of our community’s needs.

Trevathan states, “If you go to the store and when you’re doing your weekly shopping, you can take an extra $5 and fill a bag for one of us. We’re all partners. The food is helping all our community who are in need. And that may shift from week to week and month to month, and maybe not. Receiving food is, I think, really important because it allows a person to reallocate their budget for some other need they have. They may need to pay an electric bill this month. There may be another need within the family. All the opportunities that are available to help offset the cost of food to take care of another need also is very important.”

One program that many may not be aware of is a partnership with the Hannibal Farmer’s Market at Central Park.

Trevathan said, “The Farmers Market offers the SNAP and EBT. There’s a booth at the Farmers Market where a person can come use their SNAP/EBT and get SNAP tokens as well as a matching of double up tokens for fruits and vegetables at the Farmers Market for up to $25. We’re really excited about offering the double up. We had good participation with SNAP last year. This adds on an extra $25 a week for a SNAP participant, depending on how much they’re wanting to utilize. Plenty of vendors are offering fresh fruits and vegetables, and there are other options too.”

To learn more about Douglass Community Services or to volunteer with its food pantry, visit douglassonline.org or check out their Facebook page.