Rep. Adrian Smith stops in Beatrice, tours food pantry

BEATRICE - A southeast Nebraska food pantry gave a tour to an elected official on Thursday evening.

Rep. Adrian Smith stopped in Beatrice and was given a tour of the community food pantry. Smith met with Karen Mains, the head of the pantry. Smith says making stops such as these are part of his routine when not in session.

“It’s great to visit folks where they are,” Smith said. “This is the front lines of the economy. When we’re not in session in Washington, I’m somewhere around the third districts 80 counties, two different time zones, so we have a lot of ground to cover.”

Smith was shown the pantry located in the basement of the St. John’s Lutheran Church. Smith says he was impressed with what he saw.

“Food pantries like this really make sure that the families who need food can get it,” Smith said. “I’m impressed with how they operate here, making sure they get the right products when people make the requests. They fill a huge gap.”

Mains expressed how busy the pantry has been. On Thursday alone, the pantry filled over a dozen orders to approximately 75 people. When asked what elected officials such as himself can do to help places like the community food pantry, Smith says it starts with controlling inflation.

“Certain are crowing about gas not being as expensive as it was last month, well, it’s still expensive. And everybody has to pay that,” Smith said. “Prices at the grocery store are higher. Everyone feels that. It as a ripple effect, because there are fewer donations here to the food pantry. That’s part of the effect that’s painful to people who need the help.”