SPOKANE, Wash. — Rising prices are putting pressure on local food banks to keep up with the cost of fuel and food.
The delivery trucks cost much more to gas up and supply chain issues continue to make getting food a challenge. While food banks are dealing with those challenges, more families also need help getting food on the table.
Second Harvest driver John Fisher spends his days delivering food that people need and often couldn't afford without the help of local food pantries.
It's cargo that is life-sustaining, but getting from the warehouse to the local outreach centers doesn't come cheap.
"I'm glad I'm not paying it," Fisher said. "It's almost $1,000 to fill up our trucks now. It's kind of scary."
The fuel bill at Second Harvest has grown at a frightening clip, up about 40% from a year ago. Usually, the monthly fuel bill is about $6,500. Now, it's about $10,000 each month.
And while bills are up, so is need.
"We get new families every day," Fisher said. "Everyday"
Workers at the community outreach center, Our Place, wait for the food truck from Second Harvest, knowing that within hours of delivery, families will be by to pick it up.
"We would do 10,000-12,000 in a year before COVID hit," Fisher said. "We did 32,000 last year."
Second Harvest reports from June of 2021 to June of this year. There's been a 35% increase in clients served.
Those numbers represent people like Lorri Netherton, who can't keep pace with inflation.
"With the higher prices of everything I need to buy, it's just not working for me," Netherton said.
Netherton used to visit the pantry once or twice a month. Now, it's weekly.
"I've had to forgo meat," Netherton said. "Mostly chicken. It's just too expensive."
Throughout the pandemic, Second Harvest had access to particular government funding to help buy large quantities of food. That money and that food is nearly gone.
"At one point, we purchased 200 truckloads of food," Second Harvest's Senior Vice President of Logistics Sherry Wallis said. "We had off-site storage for it, and we are down to about the last 175 pallets of that food."
And procuring food continues to have unique challenges.
"There are still supply issues with anything from cans food goes into to having enough people to process food," Wallis said. "We've had funky weather, so crops haven't done well."
But, Wallis is hopeful that local crops will be more vital this year-which will help bolster what's available at the warehouse. And she says they will have to be adaptable in how they fundraise and find food because, whatever the numbers and whatever the challenges, those deliveries are what communities count on to feed their families.
Second Harvest knows the need will likely continue to grow as we head into the fall and winter.
KREM 2 is in weekly talks with Second Harvest, planning this year's Tom's Turkey Drive.
It seems early, but we know the food will be costly this year. That's why we've opened the donation page for Tom's Turkey Drive early so we can start fundraising early and provide 11,000 meals for local families.
We are working hard to keep the cost of the Tom's Turkey Drive meals to $20 so local families can continue supporting the community.
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