St.

Vincent de Paul
Edith and Carl Lindner Food
Pantry
The Burden of Care
Jessica Hobart
Sarah Massman

Missy MacDonald
Rohan Srivastava

The Problem
How should St. Vincent de Paul allocate their food pantry resources to
serve those in need?

Our Role at St Vincent de Paul

Take Neighbors around the food pantry and help facilitate their
shopping.
Make sure the Neighbors do not take more food than their family size
allows.
Make sure the Neighbors keep moving in an orderly fashion.
Talk to the Neighbors about their day.
Escort the Neighbors outside with their groceries.

Case Study
Produce is one of the most limited supplies at the pantry due to its short
shelf life. On the print out, the only rule is that the neighbors can only
take as much produce as they can fit in a plastic bag. Sometimes,
however, neighbors would try to take more than their share of produce.
If youre taking around a Neighbor with the smallest family size and you
notice them taking a large amount of produce, how would you respond?

Step 0: Reflect on your values

-Equity: We prefer that allocating resources should be based off of
peoples needs rather than allocating resources so everyone receives an
equal amount.
-JUSTice and Parity: To help correct conditions of human oppression;
to actualize the truth that all human beings are equal; to make
contributions that help eliminate unjust treatment of others
-Helpfulness: To be responsive and generous; to have empathy toward
others; to provide assistance, support or protection to others.
Responsibility: To be personally accountable to others for a job or
commitment; to own something and take care of it.

Step 1: Gather Relevant Information

In addition to the food pantry, SVdP offers a variety of services including a
pharmacy, free health screenings, assistance with bus passes and
furniture, etc.
64% of their monetary donations go toward clothing, furniture, and other
basic necessities, while 7% goes to the food pantry.
Resources, such as workers, time and food are limited. In the pantry, fresh
produce is the most limiting resource.
SVdP receives donations from the free store food bank, Walmart, the Feed
America program, Servatiis, Buskin, high school food drives, Kroger, and
individual donors.
Neighbors are made aware of the pantry by word of mouth from other
neighbors or social programs, from SVdPs community relations

Step 1: Gather Relevant Information

Neighbors must be within the zip codes served by the Bank Street SVdP
and present social security card or birth certificate to validate the
number of people in their families.
To prove this, clients must bring their photo ID, proof of address and
documentation of all household members.
Neighbors are split into four categories based on family size and receive a
chip of a certain corresponding color
Neighbors can only come to the pantry once per month
Volunteers come in an hour before to help prepare food items for the
neighbors
Should children be able to take the Neighbors around the pantry? Will it

Step 2: Determine the Type of Ethical Problem

Moral Distress: You know the right thing to do, but something is
prohibiting you from doing it.
We want to help all of the Neighbors, but due to limited resources, we
cannot.

Step 3: Analyze the Problem Using Ethical

Approaches
Egoism- Acting in your own (workers of SVdP) self interest: Dont have
any regulations to have to keep track of. Run the pantry on a first come,
first served basis. Less stress for the staff.
Utilitarianism- The greatest good for the greatest number: Have a
minimum number of fruit a Neighbor can take, so the most number of
families receive fruit regardless of family size. Greatest good is at least
having some food, greatest number is the most number of families.

Step 3: Analyze the Problem Using Ethical

Approaches
Deontology- Only the decision matters, not the outcome: There should
be clear guidelines for how much food is allocated to a Neighbors
family based on the family size.
Virtue Ethics- If the person making the decision is moral and good, the
decision will also be moral and good: The people who walk the
Neighbors at St Vincent de Paul are volunteers, we can assume they are
moral and good. Therefore, whatever they decide on a case by case
basis will be moral and good.

Step 4: Explore Practical Alternatives

Have a substitute food item for families who do not receive fruit or
who are limited in the number of fruit they can take (Ex. You can
take one more can of fruit/vegetables/beans).
Dont offer produce at the pantry, give the volunteers the fresh
produce
Donate the produce to a different food pantry in order to reduce the
issues within SVdP
Have a volunteer workshop instead of a volunteer overview 30
minutes before the food pantry opens to teach volunteers how to
interact with Neighbors.

Step 5: Make the Decision

Deontology: We need clear rules on how much produce to allocate to
each Neighbor. Have pre-made bags based on each chip and how much
produce is available at the beginning of the day. Require a training
workshop for volunteers to teach them the rules and how to interact
with Neighbors.

Step 6: Evaluate the Process and Outcome

By having clearly defined rules of what to give the to each Neighbor will
give the volunteers greater confidence to stand up to neighbors trying
to take more than their fair share.
Volunteer workshops allow volunteers the time to feel comfortable with
their interactions with Neighbors in instances where they must tell a
Neighbor, No
There will not be a loss of dignity when adolescents volunteer in the
pantry because they are no longer making the decision of how to
allocate resources, the decision has already been made.

References
Interview with Molly and Tim from the Bank Street SVdP
http://www.svdpcincinnati.org/
http://www.census.gov/quickfacts/table/PST045215/3915000