Whitman Walker Clinic closes its food pantry

The Whitman Walker Clinic over on 14th and S streets has just announced that its food bank will be closing down. The WWC FoodBank assisted DC-area individuals who are living with HIV/AIDS; those clients will now be redirected to other area food pantries.

"Beyond Bread" has had a couple of posts recently about the effect of the economic downturn on non-profit organizations, Bread for the City included. As we're telling reporters and donors and clients who ask, our basic position is: "we're brace ourselves, but staying positive." Our community is strong in support, and our program staff is super-capable of operating with maximum efficiency -- and most of all, our clients need us now more than ever.

But while we remain institutionally strong, we also know that the demand for our services is only going to grow, and some of our fellow organizations might not be as fortunate as we are. It can be unnerving to think about how this crunch will affect us in many different directions. The most readily available solution, I think, is to build stronger lines of communication and facilitation among and within our organizations so that we can help each other continue to do what we're already doing, and learn how to do it better.