Winnsboro pantry reports sharp rise in need, readies community food drive

Damon Hellman, executive director of the Winnsboro Community Resource Center, told the City Council the pantry has moved into a larger facility and is serving substantially more residents than last year.

Hellman said the pantry’s client load rose from about 289 families a month in 2023 (about 756 people monthly, with a total service of 9,400 people that year) to an average of 378 families a month in the current period, which he estimated as “a little over a thousand people” served monthly. Based on current projections, he said the center expects to serve about 12,000 people this year.

Hellman described the pantry’s move from an earlier location (referred to in the record as the “rock building”) to a new site in the Meadows Building at the hospital complex and said the space increased substantially (the transcript gives the square footage figures as “about 1500 square feet to 35 100,” a phrasing that appears inconsistent in the record). He said the new space has already been filled due to increased client demand.

Hellman promoted the center’s annual Winnsboro–Mount Vernon Food Challenge on Oct. 21–24, asking residents to drop canned goods at participating schools, Brookshire’s, Dollar Tree and local churches; last year’s event brought in roughly 16,000 food items and earned a $1,000 food credit from the regional food bank for the winning agency.

The mayor thanked Hellman and noted the center’s service is “very valuable” to many residents. No formal council action was taken on the pantry update; the remarks were delivered during the public comment period.