By Ace Grado / Social Media Editor

As Thanksgiving and Christmas approach, families across Marshall are preparing for the holiday season. For some households, however, putting food on the table remains a financial challenge as rising grocery costs place additional pressure on family budgets.

Powerhouse Community Development Corporation in Marshall is working to provide food assistance to local families while facing its own challenges with increasing food prices and the cost of maintaining regular distributions.

Stefan Jackson, chief operating officer at Powerhouse, said the organization continues to serve hundreds of families each month.

“Well, right now, we’re distributing anywhere from 250 to 275 food boxes a month, and that is food boxes, so that’s families that we’re impacting each month,” Jackson said.

Rising expenses have forced the organization to adjust its distribution schedule rather than reduce the amount of food families receive.

“We haven’t had to make any changes to how much food they receive, but we have made a change in our frequency of distribution,” Jackson said. “That’s just due to rising prices and things that have caused us to have to scale back, as far as our distribution is concerned. They still get the same amount of food.”

Despite these adjustments, the organization continues working to provide families with a variety of groceries they can use to prepare meals at home.

Each food box varies depending on available supplies, but Powerhouse tries to include at least two sources of protein, along with fruits and vegetables.

Jackson said providing families with balanced food options is an important part of the organization’s distribution efforts.

“We always try to make sure we get vegetables,” Jackson said. “We try to make sure we give protein, grains and vegetables.”

Powerhouse fills the boxes with other available groceries to help families stretch their food supplies between distributions.

The organization’s assistance also extends to pets.

Powerhouse provides dog and cat food to residents who need assistance feeding their animals. For households already struggling with grocery expenses, pet food can create another financial burden.

Providing pet food alongside its regular food assistance helps families continue caring for their animals while managing other household expenses.

As the holiday season approaches, Powerhouse faces another challenge: providing families with traditional Thanksgiving and Christmas meals.

While donations help support regular food distributions, Jackson said the additional demand during the holidays requires Powerhouse to purchase food specifically for holiday meals.

“The holiday demand cannot be met through donations. We’ve learned that over the years,” Jackson said. “So Powerhouse specifically has to go out and purchase things like turkeys, stuffing, macaroni and cheese, corn, rolls, and those are all things that we try to put in our holiday food distribution boxes.”

These purchases create additional expenses for an organization already adjusting its regular distribution schedule because of rising food prices.

For families experiencing financial difficulties, the holiday season can bring added pressure as households balance the cost of groceries, bills and other necessities.

Powerhouse’s holiday food distributions are intended to help families prepare traditional meals without having to cover the entire cost themselves.

In addition to its food assistance programs, Powerhouse has recently become a local Toys for Tots collection site.

The organization is accepting toy donations to help provide Christmas gifts for children in need.

The program gives community members another opportunity to support local families during the holiday season, particularly those struggling to afford gifts alongside regular household expenses.

Despite rising costs and increased holiday demand, Powerhouse continues working to provide food and other resources to families throughout Marshall and the surrounding area.

Powerhouse Community Development Corporation is at 103 N. Miami Ave. in Marshall and is open from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

Community members interested in donating or receiving food assistance can contact the organization for information about upcoming food distribution dates and available resources.