Food bank relies on community to help others

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SANDPOINT – Much like in grocery stores across the country, supply chain issues create challenges for local food banks to keep their shelves fully stocked.

“[W]We thought that in 2021 we would see some relief, ”said Debbie Love, executive director of the Bonner Community Food Bank. “But for rural areas it has been a challenge and an educational element to just understand the food chain. And how’s that… when our local stores run out of food on the shelves, so too will the food bank. “

In addition to the challenges, the Second Harvest regional food bank decided to end its food purchasing program due to these same supply chain issues, Love said.

By writing numerous grants and through partnerships with local grocery stores, donations and community support, Love said she is working to address the supply chain challenges for the Bonner County facility. The funding for the CARES Act helped, as did the national focus on food banks. Through research and discussions with other food banks, she reached out to larger food suppliers and brokers in the Middle East and Southern California – ordering food from the pallet – as well as daily trips to local stores to pick up items near their expiration date.

“We’ve tried to be creative on how we can access the food to come here to our rural food bank,” Love said. “Rural areas have been really hit hard. “

While food ordered through Second Harvest is also delivered on pallets, there are more now, and more must be stored locally. A third bay has been converted into a storage area for pallets and local contacts allow them to store pallets in an overflow warehouse with food brought to the food bank each week.

By working with a broker, Love is able to donate her budget, what she has on hand and what she needs. They negotiate with suppliers and companies on her behalf and then let her know what they can get and what it will cost, such as a recent purchase of canned chili and stews, she said.

Demand for the food bank is on the rise again after falling over the summer and into 2020 due to federal programs, Love said. This decrease follows a strong use of the food bank at the start of the pandemic associated with a sharp drop in the number of volunteers.

“In March 2020, we had a 90% drop in our volunteer base because a lot of them are in this risky phase and therefore stay home wisely,” Love said. “And then we also had a 25% increase in our customers. So that created a perfect storm where, you know, less volunteers, more customer needs. And then some of my staff stayed home as well. , they were nervous about it, we didn’t know what to expect. “

The merger resulted in a change in operations, temporarily moving away from its market of choice of in-store customers for out-of-box box distribution. With the fall of time, Love said operations returned indoors, with masks required, a limit on the number of clients allowed inside at a time, and plastic barriers installed.

The change in seasons has also resulted in an increase in the number of customers served by the food bank, which now has about 1,600 families per month, roughly the same number served by the Post Falls food bank, Love said. . However, she said it’s important to note that the local food bank serves the entire county with distribution sites in Sandpoint and Priest River.

“It seems to be average for our population, our size, a county our size,” Love said.

While demand appears to be spread across the county, needs are increasing in the western part of the county as more people move to this area, Love said. Demand has grown from around 150 families per month to around 440, resulting in the expansion of this community’s food bank and changes in its operation.

In Sandpoint, the food bank welcomes about 10 new families per week, many of whom are working families with children, many new to poverty, or seniors on fixed incomes. Many families face homelessness due to the housing crisis which is hitting the region hard. Many of those families are working multiple jobs or trying to find additional jobs in an attempt to make ends meet, Love said.

“It seems to be a broad spectrum [of people needing help] now, since COVID is here, ”Love said. “They can’t make ends meet because the rent has gone up or they’ve lost their house that way. And then as Social Security – if we see an increase in Social Security benefits, it looks like in affordable housing that rent will go up at the same time, so no one can move forward, basically. So they systematically use us on a weekly basis. “

While a common misconception is that those who use a food bank are lazy, Love says that is far from the case. Most are working poor or turn to the food bank when they run out of options.

“We have people who come in all the time without wanting to, but they have nowhere to go,” Love said. “They’re really proud people, especially the older generation, they, you know, grew up in a time when, during the Depression, or when they were using everything. So when they get to that point, they think, ‘Oh, a can of soup is fine.’ But it’s really the only thing they have in their closet. “

Love said she works to get as much fresh produce as possible, with local gardeners helping them stay on top during the summer with an assortment of vegetables. A “grocery rescue program” in which local stores donate end-of-life, but still good, items to the food bank. A partnership with Litehouse Foods has created a shopping list that potential donors can download from the food bank’s website or Facebook page.

The list includes such staples as peanut butter, tuna, canned meat, canned pasta, canned tomato sauce, and canned pasta sauce. Other items, such as baking supplies and seasonings, are also welcome.

Supply chain challenges have also shaken the food bank’s long-standing Thanksgiving program, in which those in need are given a turkey or ham, canned pumpkin, cranberries and yams.

“Our supplier unfortunately cannot fulfill our order of turkeys this year,” Love said. “We were actually ordering for Clark Fork as well, because the more we can bulk order, the better the price we get. But I got a call from them saying they couldn’t do it.”

Love has reached out to local grocery stores, which get him as many turkeys as possible, but that total, while large, fills just over half of the 800 turkeys needed. That leaves him with around 350 or more turkeys to find so he can help those in need.

People who can can buy a turkey and donate it to the food bank, with some local stores keeping them on-site until they can be picked up by the food bank during one of its daily visits. Cash donations can also be made, which will help the food bank to purchase additional turkeys as well.

Love said most community members realize that those who turn to the food bank only do so because they are desperate and there is no other avenue.

“Our customers are lovely people. They are very kind and grateful for everything we do,” she added. “We really feel like family, when you’re when you’re working here. And our community, it’s just like a big extended family where we all want to make sure everyone is fed, that these needs Because when these families are satisfied with their basic needs, they can move on and in fact, you know, pay their rent or get a job or keep working, basically, also be able to be healthy. having the staple food also plays a role in that. “

Instead of waiting for a document, Love said clients at the facility were working to help themselves, citing a family who is visiting the Sandpoint site in town for medical attention. Speaking to them, Love discovered that they were buying for several other people.

“Transportation is a huge barrier in our region because we are so geographically dispersed,” Love said. “And I was like, ‘Wow, you know, a lot of people will assume they’re a problem, but they actually solve problems for themselves and actually, you know, they’re using whatever resources they have. and work together to be able to meet their needs. “

While juggling the challenges and some of the stories can be heartbreaking and “pull your heart out, Love said she enjoys being able to help the community help friends and neighbors in need.”

“Some days are really tough, but I just think I’m just glad we’re here,” she said. “I mean, if we weren’t there, where would the people be? And so I just have to look at it that way.”

To donate to the food bank, learn more about its services or find out how to volunteer, go online at foodbank83864.com; or on Facebook, facebook.com/bonnercommunityfoodbank.