As the sagging economy puts the pinch on needy families, local food banks are seeing demand grow rapidly even as donations slump, officials said this week.
The Edmonds Food Bank, for instance, has seen a 12.1 percent jump in the number of individuals each week since the first quarter of 2008, and 15.1 percent jump compared to 2007, said director Peggy Kennedy.
In July, over 4,000 people visited the food bank hosted by the Edmonds United Methodist Church each week, Kennedy said.
At the same time, donations are lower.
Higher food costs are forcing bakeries and grocery stores to be careful with their orders, leaving fewer day-old donations, and individuals who normally donate are fighting the economy themselves, officials said.
The only way to solve the problem is to fill bags less full — less tuna, fewer peaches — said the food bank’s co-founder Gretchen Dixon.
“We have had to cut back,” Dixon said, as she filled a paper grocery bag with canned goods Aug. 19. “It is getting expensive. We are having to put less in each bag.”
Some weeks, like this one, there isn’t any milk to give away whatsoever.
The problems are not only local, they are regional.
It was only a matter of time that the need escalated by rising gas prices and a downtrodden economy would collide with donors’ struggles to provide for their own families, Volunteers of America community outreach specialist Kathleen McGannon Dale said.
The organization operates the Everett-based food bank and distribution center for more than 20 food banks throughout Snohomish County.
“Last month, in Everett alone, we saw 350 new families,” Dale said. “The way the economy is — gas prices what they are — people who’ve always lived on the edge can no longer provide for their families on their own. They’ve never been to a food bank and there’s hundreds of them.”
In Mountlake Terrace, too, stored food reserves at the Concern For Neighbors Food Bank are running low.
“I have never, ever seen it this bad,” said director Dolores Sternola, who has volunteered for the food bank for 29 years.
Across town from the Edmonds Food Bank, the city’s second food bank is running into the same troubles recently.
“We have definitely seen a change in the past three months,” said Theresa Jensen, one of two employees with Westgate Chapel’s Emergency Services team, which operates the church’s food and clothing bank.
Earlier this year, Westgate was seeing about 70 to 75 families a week.
Recently, however, the average has jumped to 85 families, which is a 13 percent jump. More than 100 families show up some weeks, Jensen said.
The growth is driven by rising rents and gas prices, and falling employment levels, she said. Food costs are hurting families, too.
“I think that’s a huge factor,” Jensen said. “Their money is not going as far as it used to. Now, they need the assistance.”
The Edmonds food banks aren’t facing the desparate times that Mountlake Terrace is, but they are obviously struggling, too.
Kennedy said her food bank was holding on until October, when school food drives started.
Westgate’s food bank will get a boost in September, when the new PCC Natural Markets opens up. They will send day-old products to Westgate, Jensen said.
Until then, more donations would help, they both said.
Both food and money — which the foods banks use to purchase food at discount prices — help, they said.
“Everything helps,” Jensen said. “It is a tighter squeeze than it has been before.”
Enterprise reporter Alexis Bacharach contributed to this report.
Reporter Chris Fyall: 425-673-6525 or cfyall@heraldnet.com
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