Be Concerned assists Northern Kentuckians in need all year long
During this season of giving, one way Northern Kentuckians can give back to the community is by donating to or volunteering at a local nonprofit. One such nonprofit is Be Concerned, a food pantry with locations in Covington and Erlanger. According to Andrew Brunsman, executive director of Be Concerned, the nonprofit is Northern Kentucky’s largest and longest operating network of free food pantries. And with many families still struggling during the pandemic, there may be no better time to help.
A History of Giving
Be Concerned was established in 1968 when Reverend Msgr. Thomas Finn, director of Catholic Social Services through the Diocese of Covington, asked Sister Donna Kinney to run the organization’s holiday program that assisted those in need. Kinney agreed to do so if she could manage it as the Christmas Store, enabling those in need to purchase gifts for a nominal fee instead of receiving donated gifts. She believed that “material assistance should be given in a way that enhanced recipients’ self-esteem and preserved their dignity,” according to Be Concerned’s website.
“That year, about 30 families came to their first-ever Christmas Store to receive food and then toys and gifts for their families,” Brunsman says.
The Christmas Store moved from St. Patrick Parish to Mother of God School in 1969, a larger venue that helped accommodate the program’s growing needs. In 1973, community advocate Betty Zimmer, who had experience working in the store, became Be Concerned’s new director and in 1975, Be Concerned was established as a 501(c)3 charity.
Afterwards, Be Concerned began to look for ways to help families in need year-round and not just during the holiday season.
“Betty [Zimmer] had the idea to start a local food pantry in Covington, and it opened in the late ‘80s serving Covington residents,” Brunsman says. “The key to that component was it was still all volunteer-driven, but it was also the first-choice pantry in Northern Kentucky.”
Brunsman says Zimmer had the idea to keep the food pantry a choice pantry, meaning that families come in to get their food—and other necessities once a month—and actually get to pick what they want.
Throughout the years, Be Concerned has grown, changed and adapted to the needs of the community but its main goal has always stayed the same: to honor the dignity and humanity of all persons.
The Christmas Store
Each holiday season, Be Concerned helps hundreds of families celebrate Christmas through its annual Christmas Store.
“The Christmas store still has the same mindset behind it as it always has since it started. And that’s to provide a little bit of holiday cheer to people who, otherwise, probably wouldn’t get it, especially kids,” Brunsman says.
While the Christmas Store is open, Be Concerned still provides families with regular pantry staples—such as food, cleaning supplies, hygiene products and other necessary products. But the Christmas Store allows families the opportunity to shop for gifts for their children while their groceries are being packed for them.
Brunsman says the Christmas Store is especially important for children who face hardships and struggles every day.
“A lot of times, the families that come to Be Concerned are living a real-life every day. And by real-life every day, I mean, they’re seeing a harder side of life than you and me or most people ever experience and at a younger age. A lot of times, our families struggle and have to do without multiple times throughout the year. Christmas is supposed to be a special time for every family and every kid,” Brunsman says.
Brunsman says the Christmas Store aims to make sure no children go without gifts for Christmas or have the magic of the holiday season stolen from them too early.
Helping During the Pandemic
In a typical month, Be Concerned serves around 1,000 families between its two locations. In March 2020, Be Concerned saw over 1,500 families visit its pantries for some type of assistance.
Despite the pandemic changing the way Be Concerned operated, Brunsman says they maintained their mission statement by allowing families to still choose what items they needed. Families would pull in the parking lot, choose what items they wanted from a menu and then a volunteer would pack up the items for them and bring them to their car.
Be Concerned broke countless records for service counts for the agency, supporting numerous families. After a few weeks of running the carhop model, as Brunsman calls it, the state of Kentucky sent the National Guard to Be Concerned to assist with the massive influx of families who were in need.
During the pandemic, Be Concerned also became a central hub for around 20 pantries in the region.
“As we were serving our carhop model, we also purchased, trucked out and stocked about $170,000 worth of food into about 20 partner pantries throughout Kentucky,” Brunsman says. “And that fed about 40,000 people from 10,000 households in a nine-week period.”
Reaching Out for Help
Brunsman and Be Concerned understand how hard it might be for families to ask for help.
“As a society, we have conditioned everyone to understand that the bare minimum thing you provide to your family is food. So, when you can’t do that or need help doing that, we understand that that’s an uncomfortable position to ever have to go in and ask for help for the first time,” Brunsman says.
Brunsman says Be Concerned treats every person with respect and dignity, opting to call them customers or shoppers—like at a grocery store—rather than clients.
“We don’t want families to feel bad about asking us for help,” Brunsman says. “And as long as they need us, we’ll be there.”
To make shopping at Be Concerned easy and accessible, Brunsman says all families have to do to qualify for its programs is visit the office and show a picture ID for whoever the head of household is and then proof of residency for any adults in the house—a bill, lease, etc. For any dependent children in the home that are minors, anything with the child’s name on it—like a report card, medical card or birth certificate—will do.
“People who’ve been there before, you’re not alone,” Brunsman says.
Families in need of assistance can email info@beconcerned.org or call 859-291-6789 for more information. Those looking to donate or volunteer should visit the nonprofit’s website at beconcerned.org to learn more.
