WA food banks in desperate need of help as demand keeps rising

OLYMPIA, Wash. —

WSDA director Derek Sandison said in a Zoom briefing on food insecurity Thursday the number of people needing food bank services have doubled because of the pandemic. And now, food banks are running out of money.

“Within two weeks we were seeing a tremendous increase in demand and it overwhelmed our existing capabilities,” Sandison said.

Earlier this month the state formed the Washington Food Fund, which works with the area’s largest food banks – Northwest Harvest, Food Lifeline, and Second Harvest -– to help supply 500 smaller food banks across the state.

“It is a daunting task,” Sandison said.

Food banks got money in April from the state’s supplemental budget, but they say what they still need in May to bridge the gap is staggering -- they’re currently short $11 million worth of food. That’s after the $3 million of philanthropic donations they’re already raised.

The challenge is that many restaurants are now closed or unable to donate and food donations from grocery stores are down too, with more people shopping store shelves clean.

It’s forcing the Washington Food Fund to purchase the groceries.

“We’re literally in a situation where we’re on the phone (with) competing suppliers, with grocery chains,” Sandison said. “To obtain those shelf stable products. Canned fruit, canned vegetables, packaged foods like mac and cheese,” he said.

Washington state says the situation is dire and food banks need your help

“We have a really critical gap to fill,” said Kiran Ahuja, CEO of Philanthropy Northwest, which helps coordinate and distribute the donations to the Washington Food Fund.

The goal is to raise $11 million to buy food in bulk and at a discount, which will go to about 500 food banks. If you’d like to help, you can donate here: https://philanthropynw.org/wa-food-fund

“It’s really unprecedented to try to raise that amount in this very short time but we going to do our very best to do so -– because a lot of lives are at stake,” Ahuja said.

At the end of November 2019, WSDA says 850,000 people in Washington state needed help from food banks. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic and continued rising unemployment, the state expects that number to reach two million people.

People can also donate food directly to food banks, but WSDA says you’ll need to contact your local food bank to see what they need and what current policies are for accepting donations.

WSDA also points out that donating money means your dollar will go further, because the food banks are able to secure lower-cost groceries when buying in bulk.

Food banks are also dealing with volunteer shortages since people are staying at home, on top of the massive budget shortfall.

At places like the Food Bank at Saint Mary’s in South Seattle, members of the Washington National Guard was helping pack boxes of groceries on Thursday.

You can also help food banks by volunteering.

Federal financial help from the USDA is expected in June, which the WSDA says will lighten the burden.

State leaders are now saying they have to purchase food instead of relying on donations.

To contribute to the Washington Food Fund, visit www.wafoodfund.org.

© 2020 Cox Media Group