SCOTT COUNTY, Ky. (LEX 18) — As food prices keep going up, one Georgetown grandmother talks about the increasing trouble of making ends meet and how a local food pantry is helping.
Kimberly Burnette has lived on a fixed income since her husband died eight years ago. Thankfully now, she doesn't have to worry about a house payment, but costs still add up. Nine hundred dollars a refill for propane, more than $200 for electricity and not to mention, “food is a biggie."
"I know it’s just me, but when the family comes over, there's 14 of us here there's gonna be more," says Burnette. "And I mean I’m just trying to think right now what we're gonna do for Easter.”
This mom and grandmother says that the dinner table is truly a gathering spot for her and her family of 15.
"That was a huge thing -- because my husband was all about family. He loved being around family. That made him the happiest when we were all sitting around the table eating a meal together, just talking and laughing and kidding around,” explains Burnette.
She says being able to continue that means a lot. Although Burnette lives alone now, she says one of her daughters and family will move in soon because of high prices. She explains grocery money doesn't stretch the way it used to. Now, she goes to the AMEN House and says she doesn't know what she would do without it.
AMEN House’s executive director, Michele Carlisle, says, "On average we're serving around 600 families a month that come through here for what we call our full food order -- which means you qualify for absolutely everything in the building."
Carlisle says there's no reason for anyone in the county to be hungry. She says she knows there is a stigma around food assistance but they say anyone could be one situation from being in need.
"There are bumps in the road where we have so many families that are working so hard to hold it all together, but something like a flat tire can throw those things off and so, maybe you only need to visit us every once in a while or maybe we need to truly be a part of your plan,” says Carlisle.
Burnette says AMEN House has been a great resource and more importantly non-judgmental. She says everyone deserves to feel they have what they need.
She explains, "It's killing their souls and their hope and their drive -- because when you don't have things that you necessarily need, you feel failed... And who wants to feel failed."
