WILMINGTON, N.C. (WECT) – The Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina is feeling the impacts of inflation just like everyone else. Donations have dropped off lately–even more so than in the height of the pandemic.
“Food costs more, trucking that food to the food bank costs more. And at the same time, we know that people in the community are paying those higher prices, not just for food, but for gasoline, or to keep their air conditioner on, you know, those are across the board increases that they’re seeing as well,” Beth Gaglione, Wilmington Branch Director, said. “It’s not the first time that we have seen slow donations, and unfortunately, it may not be the last.”
She says people are paying about 20% more for trucking the food and 40% more for the food they’re buying directly from the store.
“It does put pressure on food pantries on hot meal programs, on shelters that rely on food donations for the food bank.”
Gaglione says that even though donations are down, they try to evenly distribute what they do have to their partners.
“We try to operate on a fair share system. So, we try to make sure that the partner agency in Brunswick County is receiving the same amount of food as a partner agency in Pender County would get. When we have less food, we have less food to pass along, and then that puts those organizations in a position to have to, you know, look for other sources of food because they’re not meeting the demand in their community.”
Other times, they just have to be flexible when they do get a generous donation.
“Yesterday, we took in about a half of a very large truck of sweet potatoes. Our volunteers were sorting those today. And four pallets, so that food went out in the community today. So as soon as it hits our doors, it’s leaving and going out into the community so that people can have access to that fresh food.”
Gaglione said that at the beginning of the pandemic, they had an abundance of resources and donations were steady until they started to see the impacts of the supply chain disruption.
“When we started seeing impact to the supply chain, that’s when we started to see some decline, we were still able to purchase food at fairly reasonable costs. And now, that has dissipated.”
Gaglione also shared some concerns about families, especially with children who are home from school over the summer.
“Summertime is a particularly hard time for families when they have their children at home. And maybe normally those kids were able to eat breakfast and lunch at school. There are summer meal programs for young people at our New Hanover County Schools and several area schools, so that is a help,” Gaglione said. “Some of our partners have food boxes for families that are available that normally have access to that food in the summer. So, the food bank is responding. Our partners are responding, particularly for summer hunger support. [We’re] doing the best that we can with what we have right now, but it’s a tough time.”
Click here if you would like to donate or learn more about the food bank.
You can also call the food bank if you need help at 910-251-1465.
Copyright 2022 WECT. All rights reserved.
