Food Banks Demand Soars To Record Levels

Food Banks Has Soared To Record Levels All Over The US

Why is demand at food banks all over the country higher than it has ever been before? The media keeps insisting that economic conditions are just fine, but it has become quite obvious to everyone that this is not true. In particular, the rising cost of living has been absolutely crushing households from coast to coast. In the old days, most of the people that would show up at food banks were unemployed. But now food banks are serving large numbers of people that actually do have jobs but that don’t make enough to pay for all of the basics. The ranks of the “working poor” are growing very rapidly, and this is creating an unprecedented crisis all over America.

North Valley Food Bank in Whitefish served 613 families a Thanksgiving meal – a record high.

They anticipate more than 1,000 food bank customers for their Christmas holiday distribution on December 18-19.

“Year round here we’re feeding over a 1,000 of our neighbors every week and the need goes up during the holiday season,” said North Valley Food Bank Director of Development Mandy Gerth.

We are also seeing record demand in Montana…

A new report shows the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank saw its highest need on record this past year. It comes as we mark Hunger Action Month across the country.

Toi Payne of Pittsburgh’s Allentown neighborhood gets emotional thinking about how the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank in Duquesne and other local pantries have been lifesavers for her for the past 30 years.

“We need these places,” Payne said. “Without the food banks, I think a lot of people would be struggling even more, you know, and it helps like the elderly and people like me that’s on disability.”

In Pennsylvania, the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank saw “its highest need on record this past year”…

And in the San Francisco area…

This holiday season, food banks say they’re facing greater need than ever before. In Silicon Valley, they say 1 in 6 people are coming in for food assistance. In San Francisco, that number is 1 in 5. But the organizations say donations are not keeping up with demand.

For all the food banks, December is a big month. Both in terms of need, and in terms of fundraising. And they say what happens now will impact the entire year ahead.

In some parts of the nation, food banks are absolutely shattering all of the old records.

At one location in New Jersey, demand has actually “quadrupled” since the peak of the pandemic…

Food banks across the Garden State are struggling to keep up with rising demand that may soon outpace donations. At the Salvation Army’s Kroc Community Center in Camden, requests for services have quadrupled since the height of the pandemic, according to a spokesperson.

And the largest network of food banks in the state of Washington is reporting that overall demand has nearly doubled since the pandemic began…

In the state of Washington, approximately one-fourth of the entire population is now experiencing food insecurity:

• Before the pandemic, Food Lifeline served about 800,000 people annually.

• During the pandemic, that number rose to 1.1 million and has continued increasing, reaching 1.5 million in 2023 and 1.7 million in 2024, Coleman said.

The rising cost of living, particularly in housing and groceries, is pushing more families in Washington state to seek assistance from food banks.

According to Robert Ojeda of Food Lifeline, the largest hunger relief organization in the state, food insecurity affects about 25% of Washingtonians, meaning one in four residents is struggling to access enough food.

Ojeda said, “The percentage of food insecurity in Washington state is about 25%, so 1 in 4 Washingtonians are experiencing food insecurity.”