Food Bank Testimonials

Testimonials from America’s Second Harvest Network Food Banks
 Shed Light on the Reality of Decreased Ability to Serve Communities
May 12, 2008

ALASKA
Food Bank of Alaska               
In Alaska we have experienced a huge increase in the cost of distributing food to remote areas where it is desperately needed. We talked to a man the other day who said he only had enough money to pay for gas, to go to work or pay for food.

COLORADO
Food Bank of the Rockies
Families and individuals that have never before are suddenly seeking emergency food assistance. We are seeing an increased number of clients. Many agencies have said that they are running out of resources to handle the increase. Hungry people are going without [food]. If the trend continues we will have a difficult time keeping up with the demand. We are worried that we will not be financially able to continue to help those in need.

LOUISIANA
Greater Baton Rouge Food Bank
The local public system reports that kids are hoarding their free and reduced price lunches so they can bring it home and have something to eat at night.

MISSISSIPPI
Mississippi Food Network
It has become much harder to acquire food than ever before. The cost of doing business will eventually cause us to have to make drastic changes in the way we operate.

NEW JERSEY
Food Bank for Monmouth and Ocean Counties (New Jersey)
Eighty percent of the food we give to our soup kitchens and food pantries is now transported by the food bank. They simply can’t afford the transportation cost. We don’t know if we will enough funds to purchase food to meet additional need. Demand for food has increase up to 40 percent. Food donations are down, monetary donations are down, and we will have to start rationing food.

NEW MEXICO
Roadrunner Food Bank (Albuquerque)
The food pantries we serve report that they are turning people away and running out of food. They are distributing more food than ever before, but individual clients are receiving less. We have not been able to continue to meet the need. We are doing well raising funds, but spending it on increased costs. We need to buy more food, but they money is just not there. Our agencies are desperate -- they either have to turn clients away or send them away with very little.

NEW YORK
Food Bank for Westchester, Inc. (New York)
We are seeing seniors and other people who have never accessed the emergency food system.

NORTH CAROLINA
Food Bank of the Albemarle (Elizabeth City, NC)
Higher gas and food prices are driving more people to seek help, especially seniors, the disabled and the working poor.
           
OHIO
Freestore Food Bank (Cincinnati)
Agencies used to give 7 days worth of food for each family member. Last summer made it 6 days because demand is so high. We’re seeing more working families and working poor than usual…working people that just can’t stretch their budget. The people we serve are the most gracious and appreciative. Their survival skills would test almost everybody in this country. I marvel at their capacity and I wonder what the limit to that capacity is.

Second Harvest Food Bank of Clark, Champagne and Logan Counties (Springfield, Ohio)
We’ve lost two businesses recently in the area. 250 jobs are gone and the town isn’t that big. People are stretching their budgets on food, rent, utilities and gasoline.                        

Second Harvest Food Bank of North Central Ohio (Lorain)
I don’t think we are meeting the need. Our Gap Analysis shows we’re only meeting 25 to 30 percent of the need. We’ve had a big loss of jobs. People can’t find jobs except those paying minimum wage. There are no jobs to be had, even for people with college degrees.

Second Harvest Food Bank of Southeastern Ohio (Logan)
The word I would use is “disastrous.” I have been doing this since 1984 and last year was absolutely the worst year in terms of not having enough food. Food costs, utilities and medical bills are through the roof…someone living on minimum wage, I don’t know how they are even surviving today. We were the safety net when things were bad, but we can’t be the safety net [much longer]. We do not have enough food. We can never come up with enough food to offset what is happening to these families. Some of the pantries we serve have been forced to close. People are doing everything they are supposed to do, but it falls short.
                                                         
Toledo Northwestern Ohio Food Bank
There’s an increase of up to 50 percent over last year of clients seeking food. We’ve had to increase the purchasing of food by over 35 percent because donations are down.

PENNSYLVANIA
Greater Berks Food Bank (Reading, Penn.)
One of our agencies distributes out of a church garage. There used to be a handful of people showing up for help, now the lines goes all the way down the street. Clients are continually calling for help because their food stamp benefits don’t buy as much at the grocery store. One of our elderly clients who gets a CSFP box of food says that she loves the program because it leaves her with enough grocery money to buy something special – like a head of lettuce.

TENNESSEE
Second Harvest Food Bank of Middle Tennessee (Nashville)
People that used to be donors have become clients. About 30 percent of calls in the last few months are from people that used to donate and now are asking for our help.

TEXAS
Capital Area Food Bank of Texas (Austin)
The whole hunger relief system is teetering right now and it has the potential to snap if things get much worse. It’s hard to imagine what the next few months are going to look like. We are really bracing for a challenging summer.

East Texas Food Bank (Tyler)
One of our clients, a 38-year old mother with three disabled children had to choose between buying food for her family and putting gas in her car to get to work. She had just taken a new
job, closer to home to save on gasoline. She bought the food and then was fired from her job because she didn’t make it in. We have to make daily business decisions that we haven’t had to make in 20 years. The price of gas has made us reevaluate our bulk rice and bean program. We’ve stopped the program because it’s not cost effective because of the price of food and gas. For our upcoming summer feeding program, we have to scrutinize our sources for products like milk. The price of milk has gone up significantly, but the government reimbursement for this program has stayed the same.

WEST VIRGINIA
Huntington Area Food Bank (West Virginia)     
We are feeding 85,000 to 90,000 in a 17-county tri-state area. Many companies have left our service area or closed down, leaving over 50,000 people unemployed.