SC power outages create food crisis for neighbors, food pantry

FORT LAWN, S.C. — Power outages have created a food crisis in one South Carolina county.

“We lost power for three, four days, from Friday until Monday at noon,” George Kaminski said.

Since this weekend, dozens of people have gone to the Fort Lawn Community Center in Chester County, saying power outages forced them to throw away their cold and frozen food.

But the outages have also dealt a blow to the food pantry itself. The director said their food coolers are now damaged and they’re relying on a generator to power them.

Usually, the community center has just one food giveaway a month. But since the storm, they’ve been distributing food every day. So many people showed up for food on Tuesday that the director asked Channel 9′s Tina Terry to pitch in and help.

“More people are saying they’ve had to throw everything away, just because of the time the power was out,” said Director Libby Lambert. “They can’t trust food, or it’s already defrosted, or whatever.”

Kaminski said he and his wife are grateful they could turn to the food pantry for help.

“Very, very grateful, because me and my wife are both on limited incomes,” he said.

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Lambert told Terry about the moment they realized their coolers, which they use to store food, weren’t working.

“Christy, my co-worker, went out and noticed that they weren’t running. Well the power was off, but she also smelled burning plastic and some connectors had burned,” she said. “Electrician said it was probably power surges as the power was going out and it caused them to burn.”

As they wait for parts to arrive, Lambert said they’re using expensive diesel-fueled generators to keep the food cool. She’s hoping power outages all over the state won’t impact food delivery at a time when it’s needed the most.

“The food bank we use is out of Columbia but our warehouse is in Greenville,” she said. “Greenville doesn’t have power right now so we may not be able to receive anything from Greenville.”

The Fort Lawn Community Center and other food pantries need food that isn’t expired, as well as financial donations. Anyone who would like to donate can drop off food at 5554 Main Street in Fort Lawn, SC. To help financially, you can either bring cash to the same address, or send a check made out to the Fort Lawn Community Center to the same address.

(WATCH BELOW: Crews in York County continue storm cleanup)