Agnes Clarke is among the hundreds of people that turn to the Albanian American Open Hand Association every Thursday for free groceries. She does what she can to make sure there’s enough to go around.

“Sometimes they’re running out and people are in desperate need of food at this time, and they’re struggling but the food is like a blessing,” Clarke said.

On a cold rainy January day, it’s a two hour wait on a line stretches down the block and around the corner.

“Eggs are off the limit with the prices, and if you have a large family, what can you do but come and get the free food if it’s available for you?” she said.

But, making food available has become a struggle now that the organization is down a vehicle.

“Since before Christmas [our] van broke down, and we’re not able to pick up enough for this big line here,” Aleksander Nilaj said, AAOHA founder and president.

Nilaj says AAOHA operates on a razor thin budget and doesn’t have the financial reserves to afford the $8,000 repair costs to fix their truck. Occasionally, the organization rents a U-Haul truck to pick up the food that they give away to the community, but it’s an expensive option that he says they can’t afford to every week, particularly since the organization gets no public funding and relies on donations and good will.

“We have a bunch of guys coming and helping with SUVs and cars but it’s not enough,” Nilaj said, who worries about the families that are turned away when the food runs out.

“We have old people in wheelchairs with different kinds of problems and [they] stay in the line for ours. We have mommies coming with a bunch of kids. It’s heartbreaking when you’re telling people ‘I’m sorry, that’s all I have,’” he said.

He’s hoping to secure a donated vehicle soon. In the meantime, the organization is running a fundraising campaign to raise money for repairs.

For more information about the Albanian American Open Hand Association visit www.AAOHA.org. Their fundraiser can be found here.