ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — As uncertainty with SNAP continues, the Love Thy Neighbor food pantry and thrift shop in St. Petersburg is seeing a significant increase of people in need.
What You Need To Know
As uncertainty with SNAP continues, the Love Thy Neighbor food pantry and thrift shop in St. Petersburg is seeing a significant increase of people in need
The nonprofit is serving double the number of people it usually does — going from 1,000 per month to 2,000 per month
The organization celebrated the grand opening of its brand new location at 5th Avenue North in St. Petersburg on Saturday
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The nonprofit is serving double the number of people it usually does — going from 1,000 per month to 2,000 per month.
The organization celebrated the grand opening of its brand new location on Saturday, and says this new building, located at 5th Avenue North, is three times the size of the old one and is four blocks away.
With the larger space, organizers say they can sell more out of their thrift shop and serve more people in need.
The money they make from the thrift shop goes to the food pantry.
Since September, owner Joanne Braccio says many of her patrons have recently lost a job or have lost SNAP benefits.
“I was really panicked when it first happened, but when they started talking about SNAP and then you see all these things about restaurants and everybody else doing and I’m like, oh my God, my shelves are going to be wiped out within a week. What am I going to do?”
Braccio says the St. Pete Free Clinic recently partnered with them to help keep up with demand.
The nonprofit is looking for donations, accepting food and clothes. They are also looking for volunteers.