Yellow Pages
Food banks across Skagit County are finishing what will likely be their busiest week of the year today distributing turkeys, stuffing and cranberry sauce to the hungry families in the area.
Food drives often begin in early November and extend past Thanksgiving. But many food banks worry they’ll only get enough food for November.
Terry Carter, manager of Helping Hands Food Bank in Sedro-Woolley said he has plenty of food to give people a good Thanksgiving dinner today.
Families looking for help with their holiday meal can visit the food bank off Highway 20 from 10 a.m. to noon and 1 to 4 p.m. today for food donations.
But he worried about being able to provide a decent meal for Christmas without more donations.
“Donations are a little slow coming in,” Carter said. “It will probably affect Christmas.”
Kristen Damazio, spokeswoman for Food Lifeline, which provides food to food banks across Western Washington, said Thanksgiving is always easier to supply than Christmas. But most food drives last the full two months.
“Our first focus is to get food out for Thanksgiving,” Damazio said. “But it usually sustains itself through the whole holiday season.”
The picture looks different from food bank to food bank. In Sedro-Woolley, Carter is seeing about as many people coming to the bank as last year, but he’s concerned about low donations.
But at Neighbors in Need in Mount Vernon, Manager Gil Gillmor said they’re well-supplied and ready for Christmas. Lines stretched down the block Monday as the bank handed out frozen turkeys.
Gillmor said his board prepared funds ahead and have already ordered hams for Christmas dinners.
He said food donations have kept up with the demand.
But that’s not the case statewide. Damazio said food bank usage has gone up about 13 percent in the last year. While donations have risen, the increase has been at a slower rate.
Katie Carter, who tracks the number of families who come to Helping Hands, said the situation is similar to last year. Just like in November 2008, the bank is serving between 400 and 500 families a week, and many of the customers are new.
The bank has seen more than 150 new families since the beginning of November, and will likely see a record number of people today.
Carter said financial donations help the most because he knows what he has in stock.
Damazio said food banks and food collection agencies also have access to cheaper methods of buying food. While $1 might buy a can of food at the store, she said Food Lifeline can turn it into up to four meals.
To make a donation visit http://www.foodlifeline.org and click on “Donations” or contact a local food bank. Skagit County Community Action Agency has a list of food banks at http://www.skagitcap.org/Food.htm.
Aaron Burkhalter can be reached at 360-416-2141 or aburkhalter@skagit publishing.com.
