WATERTOWN, Tenn. (WKRN) — Americans are being more cautious with how they spend their money; the Bureau of Economic Analysis showed consumer spending dropped in January 2025.
It has food banks, like Jake's Blessing Box in Watertown, stuck in the middle as donations go down and need goes up. Diane Huan, the organizer of Jake's Blessing Box, said donations have dwindled.
"It seems like there are always needs that are being filled," Huan said. "They're not as quickly being filled as they were before."
She opened the pantry in April 2024 at Watertown Church of God of Prophecy on South Pearl Avenue. Huan said the pantry serves about 500 people a month.
"Being a pastor's wife and being right here off the highway, more and more people have come to us and said, 'Could you just help with groceries a little bit?'" Huan said.
Huan said she thinks the decline in donations, and the rise in people asking for help, has been caused by a rocky economy. Some experts agree with her, with Census data showing retail and food service sales up just 0.2% since January.
Haun said she's proud to be doing the Lord's work and helping families.
"With the cost of rent being so high [and] the cost of groceries being so high, at the end of the month they're at the end of the paycheck and they don't have enough to feed their families," Huan said.
Jake's Blessing Box is open every day from sunrise until sunset.