As I sit here trying to come up with yet another witty way to start yet another story that revolves around the seeming collapse of the economy as we know it — and the belt-tightening, corner cutting and pocket searching that have beset all of us — I can’t help but wonder how many more times I’ll be faced with this task. While I’m already growing tired of lamenting about the economic woes we’re all facing and already sick to my stomach over the personal pain the economic meltdown is causing people everywhere, it’s plain to see this dollars and cents debacle hasn’t even hit its stride yet.
Things will likely get considerably worse before they get better.
In the face of this fact and standing for a growing many as the last line of defense before hunger, area food banks continue to trudge on — watching the lines of people looking for help grow by the day and wondering how exactly the economic future will affect their ability to continue to serve those who need it most.
FISH food
For the last 37 years, FISH Food Banks of Pierce County has been doing just that — offering food and support to anyone willing to come to it for help. With a goal of supplying families with enough food for three consecutive days’ worth of nutritional meals once per week, FISH Food Banks of Pierce County relies on partnerships with the Emergency Food Network and Northwest Harvest — two well-known, nonprofit food distributors — as well as its own purchasing power and donations from churches, schools and individuals to meet the needs of an alarming and growing number of local families. According to FISH Food Banks of Pierce County, in 2007 the organization “served more than 222,500 individuals and provided enough food to make 2,002,617 nutritious meals.”
Furthermore, according to a study done by the Food Lifeline and commissioned by America’s Second Harvest, in 2006 51 percent of food bank customers in Western Washington chose between purchasing food and paying for heat, 40 percent chose between food and paying for medicine or medical care, and 40 percent were forced to choose between buying food and paying rent. To prove that it’s not just the lowest of the low forced to walk through a food bank’s doors, 40 percent of those who visited food banks in Pierce County in 2006 had some form of post secondary education.
And that was 2006, mind you. In 2008, with the economy in shambles, those numbers have increased dramatically.
FISH Food Banks sees this problem firsthand and has made it its mission to help. The organization relies heavily on the donated time of more than 600 unpaid volunteers.
“We’ll feed anyone,” says Danny Kiourks, FISH Food Banks of Pierce County’s South East Food Bank director, and one of the friendly and honest faces I met when I visited FISH Food Bank’s South East Tacoma location. “Seeing the kids smile is enough. When I first started I wanted to give the shirt off my back to everyone who came in. I’m here to help make sure that the first person and the last person (who visit a FISH Food Bank on any given day) get the same amount of food.”
On the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, the line stretching out the door of the FISH Food Banks’ South East Tacoma location, located at 1704 East 85th St. just off Portland Avenue in Midland, was a long one. And while it’s not unusual for the food bank’s line to be long on the day before Thanksgiving — especially considering hams, chickens and gift cards for turkeys were being distributed, not to mention the Washington State Health Department was also on hand doling out free flu shots — what is unusual is that now, as you read this a week or more after Thanksgiving, the food bank’s line is probably just as lengthy. And that’s not likely to change anytime soon. As the economy has gone in the tank and thousands have lost their jobs or have lost income, the number of people coming to FISH Food Banks — and plenty of other local food banks — is quickly on the rise.
Beth Elliott, executive director of FISH Food Banks and one of the two full-time paid employees working for the 501(c) 3 nonprofit, says the number of people being served by FISH Food Banks of Pierce County increased 32 percent from January through October. Elliott also reports that between FISH Food Banks’ 13 locations the organization serves 19,000 people a month, including anywhere from 9,000 to 11,000 a month at the Southeast location — FISH Food Banks’ busiest site.
“It’s a labor of love,” says Elliott, who also admits that FISH Food Banks is “a little concerned” about the worsening economy and the affect it will have on its ability to maintain service levels.
Though Elliott maintains a positive outlook, there is reason for “a little concern,” especially when you consider that FISH Food Banks of Pierce County served 146,000 individuals in the first eight months of this year and that as the economy worsens those numbers are expected to grow. To compensate, FISH Food Network has been doing its best to get the word out about what the organization does and is also planning to extend the hours at strategic locations, according to Elliott, to better allow those with jobs that occupy them during the day to take advantage of the services FISH Food Networks provide during the evening.
“I can say that our numbers have been steadily growing since October,” says Elliott of what affect the worsening economy is having on the lines outside FISH Food Banks. “A lot of the people (utilizing FISH Food Banks’ services) have jobs, so they can’t make it during the day.”
Luckily, at least for the moment anyway, donations at FISH Food Banks have remained steady, according to Elliott, though she also notes that November is typically the largest donation month of the year. While it makes sense to assume that in economically difficult times donations would decrease, that hasn’t necessarily been the case so far. According to Elliott, as things have gotten uglier, people’s generosity — at least on an individual basis — has seemed to increase. “We couldn’t do it without the community and people’s generosity,” she says.
And she’s right. Though FISH Food Banks of Pierce County is able to make a dent in the problem--through connections all over the country and many relationships with local supermarkets and large-scale food distributors such as Northwest Harvest and the locally run Emergency Food Network — it's really the drive and compassion of everyday people that make operations such as FISH Food Banks of Pierce County run. Volunteers are the ones who make sure that people who are hurting and hungry have a chance to eat.
“Volunteers are huge,” explains Elliott of the role that unpaid employees play in FISH Food Banks’ ability to carry out the organization’s mission. “We could not operate without them. They’re extremely dedicated.”
In case of emergency
A step up from FISH Food Banks is an organization like the Emergency Food Network — a major nonprofit food distributor serving Pierce County. Through corporate donations, purchasing power, connections, and the drive and elbow grease of volunteers, the Emergency Food Network provides food to more than 70 food banks, shelters and hot meals programs in our area. In fact, 82 percent of all food distributed at Pierce County food banks comes from the Emergency Food Network, and Gina Breukelman, the development director of the EFN, says that this year alone the nonprofit will spend $14 million on food for area food banks.
For perspective, Breukelman also reports that — through long-standing connections and bulk purchasing — when the EFN spends a dollar on food it’s the equivalent of you or me spending $12.
That’s a lot of food. It’s why the EFN has a big-ass warehouse.
Still, there were a few occasions earlier this year when the EFN didn’t quite have enough, and there is definite apprehension about what the future may hold.
“There’s real concern,” says Breukelman when asked about the passing of the holidays and the start of the long and possibly hungry months of January, February, March and beyond.
“We’ve seen a large decrease in corporate donations. I think that’s a huge concern,” says Breukelman, who notes that the bulk of what the EFN does is made possible by contributions from for profit industries. “Right now it’s probably not hitting us as hard as it will after the giving season.”
To compound the decrease in corporate donations, an increased need for food in these economically difficult times only worsens things. As the lead agency for food banks across Pierce County, the EFN keeps up-to-date and accurate statistics. Breukelman says that while between January and October of this year client visits are up by 17 percent from a year ago, that’s an average of 10 months, masking a far more substantial increase in the latter part of the year.
“In October (client visits) are up 30 percent,” says Breukelman. “The last few months the increase has been much higher.
“We had a couple weeks earlier this year where we were really low (on food), but we’re actually up 14 percent in what we’ve distributed,” she continues. “However, with a 17 percent increase in need, it’s still hard to fill that hole.”
In the face of all the adversity, it must be noted that both Elliott and Breukelman remain confident that the EFN and FISH Food Banks will be able to continue to provide the services that thousands and thousands of people throughout Pierce County — now more than ever — have come to depend on.
Let’s hope they’re right. It doesn’t look like the poor will stop needing food anytime soon, and the way things are going, soon we may all be poor.
“I think right now it’s an issue that’s tugging at people,” says Breukelman of the economy’s impact on the community’s willingness to donate time or money to food banks. “It’s closer to them than ever before. It’s the middle class that’s needing the help.”
To find out how you can help out this holiday season — and, more importantly, beyond — check out the EFN at www.efoodnet.org and FISH Food Banks at www.FISHfoodbanks.org.