Brenen’s Cafe, located at 38 S. Court St., provides free pre-prepared food for members of the Athens community struggling with food insecurities.
The program started in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, when many people were having to live paycheck to paycheck, co-owner of Brenen’s Cafe Josh Thomas said.
The initiative was started after a friend of Thomas’s, who owned an insurance company that was still doing well financially, suggested he buy 20 to 30 boxes of food for Brenen’s to give away to people who need it.
“It was kind of a win-win for us,” Thomas said. “We were the facilitator of the program, but yet, at the same time, he was helping support our business to keep us going too. That just snowballed like crazy.”
During peak times, like the pandemic, Brenen’s was making and serving around 35 to 40 sandwiches a day. That number has significantly decreased to nine pre-made sandwiches daily, which are first come first served.
Although there are not as many people coming into Brenen’s to receive free meals, there are still people that need to be fed in the Athens area. Athens County Food Pantry President Karin Bright said many members of the Athens Community still face food insecurity which she said is the fear that one will not have food in the foreseeable future.
“The idea of food insecurity is that it goes beyond hunger,” Bright said. “It's actually the idea, the concept that people are concerned that they will not have enough good, nutritious food to live a healthy lifestyle. You may have food insecurity, not be hungry today, but still have food insecurity.”
Athens County typically has some of the highest rates of food insecurity in the state, having around one in five people, or 20%, experiencing food insecurity, Bright said.
“The work that we do in terms of supplying food for people each month is just trying to help people alleviate some of that concern and some of that worry,” Bright said.
The food pantry is only able to provide so much food per household. A bag of food is provided for a household of one to two people, and a box for three to four people.
“As the household size increases, we mix (boxes and bags) together to come up with that total,” Bright said. “It is a combination of canned goods and non-perishables. Then, we supplement that when we have availability, which is normally almost all the time.”
Bright said the main cause of food insecurity is based on income and economic status, and with the university being the largest employer in Athens, it is likely someone is working in retail or service industry if not for the university.
“There's a lot of service work that's done here, a lot of retail and service work, which are traditionally not particularly high-paying positions,” Bright said. “They also a lot of times do not have benefits, so people are frequently living paycheck to paycheck.”
Bright agrees that businesses giving food to members of the community who are struggling is one way to combat food insecurity.
Thomas said he would recommend providing free food to other businesses, but it comes with some challenges.
“It’s generally been very positive,” Thomas said. “Obviously the unhoused community is very appreciative of it … It has its ups and downs. We have had some issues with people coming in that were obviously under the influence of either alcohol or drugs or whatever and wanting food.”
Josie Nauman, a fourth-year student in the MBA program, said she had seen these challenges in the year and a half she has worked at Brenen’s Cafe.
Brenen’s did not always have premade sandwiches, but switched after to accommodate more people during lunch rushes, Nauman said.
“It got to be a little bit much for us to do,” Thomas said. “Unfortunately, it's not that we didn't want to do that, but when it's our lunch hour and we're trying to serve you, and we've got everybody lined up for free sandwiches, that got to be a little bit of an issue”
Thomas said he is just happy to be able to give to those in need and help alleviate someone’s hunger. It may help them get through their day and other problems they may be having as well.
