SEATTLE — Christmas time is the high season for food banks, when people usually share their holiday spirit and fill warehouses with canned green beans and peanut butter.
Most years, food banks collect enough cash and cans in December to nearly cover their needs for the following six months. But agencies in communities where people are struggling economically, including those recovering from this month’s floods, say feeding the hungry has been tougher this year.
Food banks in Lewis County have seen demand for their services increase dramatically in the weeks since the early December floods.
But donations from as far away as Portland, Ore., and Seattle have helped the Greater Chehalis Food Bank and its seven sister agencies throughout Lewis County meet the increased demand, said Jeff Smith, volunteer coordinator in Chehalis.
“People have really opened up their hearts and their pocket books,” said Smith. “People have donated so much we were able to buy turkeys and hams for Christmas.”
Food pantries can be an economic indicator as clear as department store sales figures for the day after Thanksgiving, said Robert Coit, executive director of the Thurston County Food Bank.
“Our fourth quarter drives the next giving year,” Coit said. “Things just drop off after the holidays.”
His food bank helped about 30 percent more families in 2007, but the local supply of donations has not been able to keep up — in part because some of the people who used to give money and food to the pantry are now standing in line for help.
The Olympia food bank has also opened some satellite operations to get food closer to the people who need it because some aren’t mobile enough to get into the city. That has both increased the number of people getting help and raised the organization’s expenses.
To meet the growing need, the food bank reached beyond its county lines this year to get help from the two regional organizations that buy in bulk and supply pantries around the state.
“In general the year has been good, but not as good as years past,” he said, adding that some of the donations the food bank usually receives at this time of year have been redirected to food banks more heavily affected by the floods, which he called entirely appropriate.
He’s hoping, however, that the holiday rush of generosity is not over, because he still needs to feed people from January through November.
“I have a large warehouse. There’s no limit to the amount of food you could donate,” Coit said.
A shortage of federal surplus commodities and rising fuel costs are hitting food banks hard, said Claire Acey, director of communications for Northwest Harvest, which distributes more than 18 million pounds of food a year to more than 300 food banks and meal programs across Washington.
Acey said Northwest Harvest receives about half its yearly donations during the holiday season, but this year is a little behind where it wanted to be. It saw a decrease of 1 million pounds in the food it distributed between July and November, compared to the previous year.
She said some food banks have reported the nutritional quality of food donations has gone down noticeably — too many chips and not enough vegetables, tuna and peanut butter — at the same time their clients are becoming more aware of nutrition.
“Many donors are stretched pretty thin right now. As the cost of living rises for people … they have less disposable income to share with others,” Acey said. Food of better nutritional quality is more expensive.
Food Lifeline, which distributes about 21 million pounds of food a year to about 300 food banks, hot meal programs and shelters in Western Washington, reports a noticeable decrease in nonperishable food this year and an increase in food that needs to be kept refrigerated or frozen.
Although food recipients are glad to receive fresh produce and meat, the food banks that serve them don’t have much capacity to transport and store fresh or frozen food, said Linda Nageotte, president and chief executive of Food Lifeline. Few food banks have refrigerated trucks or even refrigerated storage.
Statewide, emergency food organizations distributed 90 million pounds of food in 2007, Nageotte said.
“Ninety million pounds did not come close to fulfilling the need in the community. We need to do so much more,” she said.
Both Food Lifeline and Northwest Harvest are working with other statewide organizations to be more strategic about the way they get more food to distribute, instead of relying so much on lucky timing for much-need donations.
Food Lifeline is using grant money to hire another employee to seek donations from farmers, manufacturers and grocers. Northwest Harvest is buying a warehouse in Kent that will allow it to double the amount of food it can distribute within the next decade.
National organizations report a dramatic decrease in the amount of food available for food banks, but Nageotte says the crisis hasn’t hit the Pacific Northwest.
“By comparison, we fell pretty fortunate. And yet, we also don’t have enough food to fill the need,” she said.
Food bank woes
On the shelf: Food banks hope for donations of nonperishable food such as peanut butter, canned vegetables and tuna during the holiday season because about half their donations of food and money for the whole year usually arrive between Thanksgiving and the new year. Few food banks can store fresh produce and frozen foods for later distribution.
By the pound: Statewide, emergency food organizations distributed 90 million pounds of food in 2007. More than a million people receive emergency food from Washington food banks and tribal voucher programs each year.
Where it comes from: Individuals, corporations, schools, farmers and grocers give food and dollars to food pantries.
Tax money, too: The state government provides dollars for equipment, training, food purchases for people with special needs and other programs. The Legislature allocates about $5 million a year to help local food banks. Local governments provide money as well.
Associated Press
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