Food assistance charities in eastern North Carolina are running out of items to give away to those in need. Now, with the government shutdown, they are seeing more people at the door.
The Salvation Army and the Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina say they have both seen an increase in demand. With Thanksgiving and the holiday season coming up, we found out just how strained their resources are.
Karl Dahlin is a Corps officer for the Salvation Army. She says increased demand has led to empty shelves.
We’ve seen an increase in families seeking assistance. For instance, today we saw over one hundred families, and so many of them were listed down as brand new, never been.
Organizations like the Salvation Army normally rely on help area the food bank network and purchasing at deep discounts from grocery stores, but recently these programs have been strained.
Amy Beres, President and CEO, Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina, tells us:
Starting in January, we actually saw a significant increase of need in our communities, and then this government shutdown and delay in SNAP benefits have been an added layer, so we’ve seen a huge increase both calls from us and from our partners.
The Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina has seven hundred partners in local communities who have seen an increase in need.
“We are doing everything we can to get food into the community, but it is going very quickly.”
Now faced with these shortages, Dahlin and the Salvation Army have looked towards alternate avenues to support the community
“Only ten percent of what we give out is coming from donations; the rest we must buy. So we will be going to buy from the retail markets, we are paying market price, going to Sam’s Club, buying in bulk, trying to fill up the shelves with what we can.”
The Salvation Army is conducting a food drive right now to help restock the shelves.
You can drop off donations of non-perishable food at the Salvation Army in New Bern, located at 1402 Rhem Ave.
