These shelves might look full, but organizers of the food bank at the ACT Spooner House said the food here will soon be gone.
The food bank — facing its normal summer traffic increase coupled with a large spike in need fueled by the tough economy — needs donations. Soon.
“We’re feeling the squeeze on all sides,” said ACT Spooner House Executive Director, Susan Agamy. “We’re seeing a lot of people who are first-time clients of the food bank. Because of job loss, layoffs… people facing foreclosure, they’re having a much more difficult time.”
The Spooner House runs the Valley’s family homeless shelter and the Valley Food Bank Network.
As students get out of school, and many lower income children no longer receive free and reduced price breakfast and lunch each day, the food bank typically sees a jump in traffic, Agamy said. About 10 to 15 percent more meals are needed as families try to feed their children two more times each day.
But this year, the food bank saw a dramatic increase in need before school got out, something Agamy attributes to the economy.
In the past the food bank may have distributed about 5,000 meals a month, but now the numbers have doubled to 10,000. Agamy expects the need to increase to about 11,000 or 12,000 this summer.
Those figures include increased need from about 300 new families, Agamy said.
It’s a similar story at food banks across the state, Agamy said, some of which have had to reduce the amount of food they give out because of a drop in donations. To help keep up with the need, the Spooner House is looking to local organizations to help keep the shelves full.
For example, Griffin Hospital gave 20,000 food items in the spring, the Valley United Way gets businesses involved and local churches continue to donate.
How To Help
Area residents will have a chance to donate food items at an event at Jones Family Farms in Shelton Friday, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Click here for directions.
At its Red, White and Blue Festival, Jones Family Farms will accept non-perishable canned foods to donate to the food bank. The festival will include activities like a bean bag toss and face painting for a small fee, which will also be donated to the Spooner House.
The farm announced yesterday, through its Twitter account, that the Valley Food Bank Network was low.
“Around the holidays everyone thinks to donate their canned food, but not in the summer,” said Keith Padin, the Jones Family Farm employee organizing the festival. “Just by coming to the farm, the community can learn how to help out.”
For more information on the event, click here.
