BEAVERTON, Ore. (KOIN) — Jennifer Young and her family used to donate to the Sunshine Pantry in Beaverton all the time — but now, they’re using it.
Young and her husband, who was laid off, depend on the pantry to keep their money focused on bills while still being able to provide food to their family.
“My husband has been unemployed for over four months and Sunshine Pantry has helped us with our budgeting,” Young told KOIN 6 News.
Sunshine Pantry is a food bank that primarily helps people in Washington County, however, they receive people from all over Oregon and Southwest Washington.
“They love us and they don’t ask any questions,” Young said. “They don’t judge, they just, they care.”
Young’s family is just one of many families that come to Sunshine Pantry for help. Now, the pantry is asking for the public’s help as they’re in jeopardy of closing.
Sharon Straus started Sunshine Pantry out of her Beaverton garage 37 years ago. She said when they finally moved out and into a new location, they had 25 refrigerators and freezers in her house. They’ve been at the current location — 10895 SW 5th St. — for five years.
“We average 50 to 100 families a day and we provide a food box,” Jared Mannis said. “We’re providing a food box for that entire family for an entire week.”
Mannis is the director of operations at Sunshine Pantry and said they help between 15,000 and 25,000 people a year.
According to Mannis, he pays the lease annually and was under the impression that utilities were included in that lease. However, he said they received a utilities bill in the beginning of 2018 for the last five years that is “beyond [their] budgeted means.”
“This bill is beyond our budgeted means and if we don’t have the funding for this, we may be forced to close our doors,” he said.
Sunshine Pantry operates on a very small budget of under $150,000, so they turned to the public for help when they received the $35,000 utility bill.
“We paid our lease on an annual basis and so we were under the impression that our utilities were included,” Mannis said. “We weren’t receiving a utility bill on a monthly basis. Of course, if we received bills, we took care of our bills.”
The landlord has been paying for their utilities for the last several years, so they owe him the $35,000. However, Mannis said their landlord has been extremely reasonable with them regarding the issue. They have a great relationship and want to continue leasing the same facility — but to do so, they need to raise the money before signing a new lease on July 1.
A GoFundMe has been started to help Sunshine Pantry raise the money. The donations will help them pay off the utility bill as well as first and last month’s rent.
Asking for help is a first for the pantry, according to Mannis, because they’re the ones who normally do the helping.
“This is what we do and take care of those who have fallen and we work on getting them back up and keeping them in that place,” Mannis said. “I think we’re a responsible nonprofit, but we need the help.
Watch Sunshine Pantry’s video below