The rising costs of goods is sending more and more county residents to food distribution lines but that strain is also being felt by the agencies charged with aiding those in need, prompting nonprofit leaders to implore those who have the means to give what they can.
“Our mission is to be there for anyone who needs a healthy meal. So far, we have been able to do that with the support of the community and our intention is to make sure that will always be the case. But it is a tough economic environment,” said Tracy Weatherby, vice president of Strategy and Advocacy at Second Harvest Food Bank, the only food bank serving both San Mateo and Santa Clara counties.
Before the pandemic, Second Harvest Food Bank was serving about 250,000 people across both counties. That number rose above half a million at the peak of the health crisis but began to fall as conditions improved and the world seemed to be reopening.
But today, demand is growing again. Weatherby said the agency is back up to serving about nearly half a million clients again as the cost of gas is around $6 a gallon, grocery prices stay elevated and economic experts warn of a looming recession.
Bart Charlow, CEO of Samaritan House, one of the Second Harvest’s largest partners and a core service provider in the county, said their headquarters in San Mateo sees about 1,000 cars pass through their drive-thru pantry alone and about 1,100 hot meals are driven out per day.
“Demand for food, which is the leading indicator for economic distress, shot back up to peak level during COVID with new people signing up every week,” Charlow said. “It’s going to be a rough period until we can get inflation numbers under control.”
Compromising the necessities
Charlow has also regularly sounded the alarm on the rent cliff residents have faced. He said the issue will only be exacerbated after state rental protections ended earlier this year while renters still struggle to find and maintain a stable financial footing due to the rising cost of living in the already expensive Bay Area. Echoing Charlow, Weatherby noted many will first sacrifice food and nutrition to cover bills like rent and child care when in financially difficult times.
Both agency heads said their organizations intend to do what they can to support those in need — Weatherby noted children under the age of 18 can access free meals at various school sites five days a week during the summer and Charlow said Samaritan House is in full swing acquiring the necessities for their annual backpack giveaway, however, they are still falling short of their goal.
Charlow also acknowledged that agencies have their limits and can only serve the public when they’re able to keep their own lights on, gas tanks full and water running.
We’ll just keep on trucking,” Charlow said. “We’ll keep moving forward to do whatever we can to the limit of what we’re able to do.”
Funding support
A key difference between the current economic crisis and the peak of the pandemic though is funding. Pandemic support saw state and federal funding increase from about 5% to about 10% of Second Harvest’s budget. Samaritan House saw a similar spike in support dollars, much of it going toward housing assistance that’s also now in high demand after rent protections went away earlier this year.
But those state and federal crisis dollars have dwindled and new tranches don’t appear to be on the way. For Second Harvest, that means digging deeper into their existing funds to purchase the food they distribute out to 300 partners and 900 sites, including Samaritan House.
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Meanwhile, fuel costs have nearly doubled, as have freight costs, after remaining steady since 2016, Second Harvest spokesperson Diane Baker Hayward said in an email. Egg costs have also gone up by roughly 60%, though, Weatherby said the agency works closely with a number of farmers throughout the state who supply core goods like milk, eggs, chicken and other produce at reasonable prices.
“It’s definitely putting strain on our organization,” Weatherby said, noting the agency will continue to revisit its food budget to ensure it can continue providing nutritious meals to those who need it. “We are fortunate that our donors have been very generous to allow us to support the community. … We’re lucky to have relationships with farmers in California that allow us to get food at reasonable prices.”
And every dollar from every donor, large and small, goes a long way, they agreed. Charlow said many in the nonprofit world are concerned the public will hit a donation wall, particularly after being so generous at the start of the pandemic and now faced by economic uncertainty.
More than two years into the COVID-19 pandemic, both also suggested the public is beginning to believe the heath crisis is over, potentially causing some to believe community need isn’t as high as it once was.
“The challenge is a lot of people see the real emergency as having gone by, as being done, and what we really see is for about 60% of our clients, they still have less than $100 in savings,” Weatherby said.
Persevering
Nonprofits will continue to look toward large philanthropic donors for support but Charlow said even more pressure will likely be placed on the county to back the core agencies serving various communities. The county has been a long-time and generous partner, Weatherby noted, but it too faces future economic challenges down the road.
Outside of supporting rental assistance programs, Weatherby and Charlow said cities have not regularly contributed to food distribution programs but they may be asked to do so in the near future.
Charlow and Weatherby also praised the teams of volunteers who have regularly turned out to distribute food, box goods and provide their time for whatever other needs may arise. More support is always welcomed, they said, both encouraging the public to give support to as many local agencies as they can while Charlow also stressed the importance of uplifting all in the community.
“Aside from just pure humanity in treating people decently, you have to realize that most of the people we’re serving are the working poor. They’re the base and essential backbone to our community,” Charlow said. “We’re still coping with all of the economic long-term effects of this. The people we serve are on the low end of the economy and will have to deal with this for years to come and we just truly have to recognize the reality. That will help us deal with it more effectively and not make our situation worse.”
Visit the Second Harvest Food Bank of Silicon Valley website at shfb.org and the Samaritan House website at samaritanhousesanmateo.org to learn more about services and opportunities to donate or volunteer.
(650) 344-5200 ext. 106
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