Makayla Sholars was teaching her 3-year-old son Ezzy how to tell a good potato from a bad one on Monday.
“That’s a bad spot,” she told Ezzy, pointing at a soft black area, which she knew would quickly spoil not just that potato but any around it. “Here’s a good one,” she said, adding it to a bag from what had been a 42,700-pound pile of free potatoes offered to the Cheyenne community by Needs Inc. by the nonprofit, Sharing Excess, which is working to reduce food waste in America.
The potato pile was a great democratizer Monday in Cheyenne, drawing people from all walks of life, from those who just wanted to help families in need to retirees who are seeing their dollars not stretching as far as they’d like.
Sholars’ husband has a full-time job, but she’s a full-time housewife. With only one income, Sholars has needed to stretch her food dollars as much as possible.
“This means quite a bit, especially with how hard times are right now,” she said. “Having stuff like this where you can just come and grab potatoes — that’s meals for weeks to feed our family. It’s actually very helpful and so nice to have places that do this for communities.”
Ezzy Learns About Good Vs. Bad
Sholars’ mom has given the young housewife several economical recipes. But the family’s favorite relies on ground beef, and that’s no longer as economical as it once was. A single pound of 80% lean ground beef chuck was retailing for $5.94 at Walmart on Monday.
“Inflation is absolutely killing us right now,” she said. “It’s making things so much more difficult, and it’s making stress so much more.”
Sholars said the family is hoping to soon find a preschool for Ezzy, which would allow her to pursue a job and bring in money to meet monthly expenses.
“We’re trying to find a home for our family, so we’re really stuck in a place right now where we have to rely on things like this to help us get through the month,” she said. “So this is absolutely the most amazing thing. This is going to more people rather than being wasted, and I really appreciate that as well.”
Not Immune To Rising Prices
Tim Browning retired from the Army so he's able to shop at the commissary. But between the fees for using the commissary and gas prices, the savings haven’t been what he hoped.
“The prices of things are, literally, just sky-rocketing,” he said, wryly gesturing to the free potatoes. “It really is eating into our budget. So here I am picking up potatoes.”
It’s ironic to Browning, because he moved to Wyoming to chase more affordable prices.
“I’m not complaining,” he added. “We bought our home, so we don’t have a big expense. And I’ll be 62 in February, so I’ll be able to start drawing my Social Security.”
For Paul James, the potatoes represented a different kind of opportunity — an excuse to make a donation to Needs, Inc.
As a railroad worker, James said his union job keeps the bills paid for now. Like a lot of Americans, though, he has cut back on travel and he isn’t eating as many steaks.
Free potatoes, as he sees it, are a win-win.
“You can come donate a little bit of money, which also helps them, and you can take some taters home,” he said. “It’s all good.”
Inside A Food Pantry Fighting Inflation
The sight of so many different people picking through the last of 42,700 pounds of potatoes straight from Idaho had Needs Inc. Executive Director Kristen-Erin Balderas smiling Monday morning.
There were even some food truck owners who came to help out with the overflow.
“There’s plenty to go around, so people in need and even people who might be like, ‘Well you know, I have plenty of money, I can buy my own potatoes,’” she said, noting that they’d shared the bounty first with other hunger-relief partners in the community. “It’s just a matter of sharing so that no food goes to waste. Whoever needs potatoes, wants potatoes and just doesn’t want potatoes to go to waste, this is for them.”
The potatoes were from Sharing Excess, which had earlier been offering its bounty of potatoes to western Wyoming. When donations slowed there, they shifted to Cheyenne.
On its website, Sharing Excess says 40% of America’s food goes to waste, while 47 million Americans go hungry.
“We believe food should be shred — not wasted,” the website goes on to say. “With innovative technology and a nationwide network, Sharing Excess rescues edible surpoase from food businesses and redistributes out to local hunger relief organizations.”
Most Clients Work Full-Time
Hardly anyone hasn’t been affected by ongoing inflation, Balderas acknowledged, and the food pantry is seeing far more people than usual coming in for help.
“Pre-pandemic, we were serving 30 households a day,” she said. “Now we average 175 households a day. Right now, specifically, we’re seeing a lot of people coming in for the very first time, who have never needed these kinds of services before.”
Balderas estimates about 75% of her clientele are families with one or more parents who have full-time jobs.
“There are so many two-income households that just can’t out-budget inflation and low wages,” she said. “It is what it is, and there’s no shame in asking for help.”
Those who accept help, she added, are more quickly able to turn things around, which helps everyone.
“The community needs people to use the resources provided to help them through their tough points,” she said. “Because they’re the kind of people who are going to turn around and help the next person.”
Neighbors Helping Neighbors
Helping other families was what brought Marlin Casey to Needs Inc.’s free pile of potatoes Monday. His family isn’t struggling, but he knows some who are — and who’d be unlikely to come and take potatoes for themselves.
“Saturday, I saw a note from my son saying, ‘Get over here,’” he told Cowboy State Daily. “So I came over, picked up as much as I could carry, then found a couple of other families who could use it.”
The breadwinner for the family Casey was helping on Monday was injured on the job, but his claim was turned down.
“They’re hurting,” he said. “They’ve got three young ladies, and I wanted to get them some help. I know just physically he’s in a world of pain right now.”
Bringing a semi-truckload of potatoes in and opening it up to everyone was a wonderful thing to do for the community, Casey said.
“We’re not in a position where it’s a great need for us,” he said. “But we can sure help others, and I’m appreciative of Needs providing this. It’s a lot of potatoes.”
Renée Jean can be reached at renee@cowboystatedaily.com.
