HAMILTON COUNTY — On Monday night, Alice Eckert is picking up groceries at the Choice Food Pantry at the Grace Care Center. She’s been utilizing it for about three years now, which helps keep her grocery bill down.
“A lot because we don’t have enough money coming in to even pay our rent,” said Eckert.
Grocery and utility bills continue to put a lot of pressure on family budgets.
“We’ve had more families than ever coming to Grace Care Center for some extra care, whether that’s meeting an emergency need or helping to fill that gap,” said Cara Augspurger, the executive director of the Grace Care Center Foundation.
Augspurger says they see the most need during the summer time.
“We know that summer is a tough time for a lot of families with the summer heat and trying to keep kids at home and fed.”
Now, thanks to a $7,500 grant from the Duke Energy Foundation, they’re able to provide additional groceries for families with children during the summer and support heat relief efforts. They’re distributing fans and other cooling resources.
“Fans really do help save energy because it reduces that burden on air conditioning for a lot of our households,” said Augspurger.
Grace Care Center is holding fan distribution events on July 15 and 16.
