Food banks feeling the pinch

Published 9:00 pm Sunday, November 14, 2004

Area food banks are asking for extra help this year stocking up to provide families in need food for Thanksgiving dinner.

The holiday crunch comes during a year in which the overall requests for food at area food banks have climbed while donations have declined.

Demand at Snohomish County food banks has risen 4 percent this year, serving an additional 14,000 people, said Virginia Sprague, who oversees the Volunteers of America’s distribution center, which supplies 20 area food banks.

But while demand has increased, donations to the distribution center have dropped by 600,000 pounds, to about 3 million pounds.

Some of the reasons: The amount of food from government donation programs has dropped, Sprague said, as have cash donations to purchase food.

This year’s holiday food crunch worsened when a long-time donor organization, which usually provides $35,000 of chicken for the holidays, announced that it would not be able to make the donation this year, Sprague said.

“We can always use more food,” said Sharon Sparre, who oversees the food bank at Westgate Chapel in Edmonds. She said she tries to ensure that families walk out of the food bank with three grocery bags of food.

Sparre said she particularly worries about children affected by poverty.

“To not have basic necessities, food, laundry soap to wash your clothes, not to have school shoes or a backpack is so very difficult on children,” she said. “Those are the ones my heart goes out to.”

Food banks often feel pinched in the fall as they face the end-of-year holidays, said Julie Morris, who directs the Sky Valley Food Bank in Monroe.

The estimated number of meals the food bank provided increased from 28,000 to 30,000 a month between July and October, she said.

“We do not have enough turkeys or poultry at this point for Thanksgiving,” Morris said.

Donations of holiday foods, such as cranberries, yams, stuffing mix, canned pumpkin and canned milk also are needed, she said.

Since food banks buy in bulk, cash donations can greatly increase the amount of food that can be purchased.

“We buy in such large quantities we can buy this food for about one third the price of retail,” Morris said.

“It never fails that the community rallies,” she said. “With their donations of money, and poultry, food drives and fund-raisers, it gets the food banks and recipients not only through the holiday, but through the next several months.”

Reporter Sharon Salyer: 425-339-3486 or salyer@heraldnet.com.