November 21, 2010; Source: Northwest Florida Daily News | This article is like many others about food pantries we have seen in our search of news about nonprofits around the nation. In Destin, Fla., food pantries say that they are responding to increasing numbers of hungry people and that these people are emotionally devastated by their circumstances. Already hurting from the soft economy, the area has also been affected by the oil spill. Lisa Martinez at the Salvation Army says they keep running out of food and “It just keeps getting worse and worse.”

This has caused some of the local food programs to reduce the amount of groceries they distribute to applicants and to limit their hours. Carolyn Ketchel, the Regional Director of Catholic Charities, says, “Food is a symptom of a greater problem . . . If someone is coming in for food, there’s low employment or no employment.” Ketchel goes on, “I hear every once in awhile that things are improving, but I don’t see it. I see just the opposite . . . It’s the deepest, greatest recession of my lifetime. I’ve never seen anything like this.”—Ruth McCambridge