In Warren County, 18.2 percent of the population suffers from food insecurity.

Feeding America says that this term means that this segment of our population suffers from a lack of access, at times, to enough food for an active, healthy life for all household members and limited or uncertain availability of nutritionally adequate foods.

This group may not necessarily be food insecure all of the time but may have to make tradeoffs between important basic needs, such as housing and medical bills and purchasing nutritionally adequate foods.

These people are dependent in part on Vicksburg’s Storehouse Food Pantry to ensure adequate nutrition for themselves and their family members.

Come November, however, they may be out of luck — unless someone in the community steps up to provide the organization with a permanent home.

After about 10 years in flux, wherein the food pantry was forced to move from Crawford Street United Methodist Church when its building had a wall collapse and it was then relocated to Good Shepherd Community Center, the organization once again is facing a daunting move.

Good Shepherd’s preschool expansion is something we should all celebrate, as it will serve more children than ever before. But because the preschool needs the space currently occupied by the food pantry, the growing pains are very real and very urgent.

Storehouse Food Pantry receives a decent amount of funding from a variety of sources, but purchasing a new building would expend every last cent of its current bankroll.

Surely, there is someone in town who can step up and provide a 2,000-square-foot space for the food pantry to call home at a decent rental rate.

The food pantry serves more than 300 people each month. Those people rely on the goods it provides. The thought of someone in our community being forced to go hungry, the thought of not having a food pantry to turn to when times are hard, is a shameful pill to swallow.