CAC cannot pay its own bills

Community assistance group looks for help

By Owen Boss

GARDNER — The Community Action Committee has found itself without funding for its own rent or utilities as it prepares for a winter season that could leave many needy members of the community literally out in the cold. The Greater Gardner Religious Council invited executive director of the committee, Julie Meehan, to their monthly meeting at Heywood Hospital to discuss the acquisition of funding Tuesday, in preparation for what projections show could be an economically stressful winter season. Barbara Nealon, who arranged the meeting and works in the social services department of Heywood Hospital, said it is up to members of the community to lend a helping hand as residents enter into the home heating season. “I think we are going to see a lot more middle-class families struggling and utilizing these programs,” said Ms. Nealon. “We love the CAC, and we just want you to be able to sustain the volume of people coming to you.” Among the resources the committee makes available to those in need is their newly-renovated food pantry, which provided more than 15,000 bags of food for families in Gardner, Ashburnham, Hubbardston and Westminster in the past year alone. “One of the main programs we offer is our food pantry,” said Ms. Meehan. “And we have seen an increase in the number of people using the pantry by 24 percent in just one year, which is really unbelievable.” Although the committee has seen large increases in the number of residents utilizing some of their programs, Ms. Meehan said people are recently starting to come in for different reasons. “The thing that we have noticed is that the people who come in for help with rent and utilities, we would find that they were living a little bit above their expenses but we aren’t seeing that anymore,” said Ms. Meehan. “People are only getting just what they have to and they still aren’t making their budgets.” Ms. Meehan stressed to members of the council that because there is such a tremendous demand for food donations, the canned goods they contribute today will help someone eat tonight. “The churches in the area have been wonderful; whenever there is a need they’ve always responded with food donations,” said Ms. Meehan. “The key with the food is remember that this food is going out immediately. These are meals on the table for people the next day, so we definitely appreciate all of that coming in.” In order to serve a larger number of residents dealing with both food shortages and increased fuel prices, council member Brenda Casavoy said it will take an organized effort to help everyone. “Between the religious council and GATE and all the other agencies that are out there, if we work together, we should be able to network or at least maneuver these people through the system so we can spread some of these resources around.” oboss@thegardnernews.com

Appeared on Page 1 on 9/3/2008 (Vol. 205 No. 208)