People turning to food pantries in record numbers

The pandemic has people turning to food pantries now more than ever. Demand has remained steady this summer and it is not expected to taper off anytime soon.

“Everyone is experiencing just numbers that are skyrocketing. I mean, it’s just unheard of,” said Brenda Shaw, Chief Development Officer for the Lowcountry Food Bank.

Before the pandemic, Lowcountry Food Bank was feeding 140-150 people a month, on average. It spiked to more than 1,000 in April during the first wave of unemployment. Shaw said it’s leveled off to around 700 people since then, but adds they’re bracing for another uptick since federal unemployment benefits ended last week.

“I think the bigger issues for us is that we’re having to purchase more food right now than we’ve ever had to purchase,” Shaw said. “A typical month we would probably spend about $75,000 to $80,000 on purchased food and then in the month of June, we actually spent close to half a million dollars on food.”

Lowcountry food bank serves 10 coastal counties and partners with about 300 agencies, including many food pantries like those housed in churches, community and senior centers. However, Shaw said about 15-percent of those agencies have had to close their doors recently.

“Primarily because they are staffed by volunteers and for one reason or another, they’ve not had the ability to open up because volunteers (many) they don’t feel comfortable working, a lot of the volunteers are more elderly and I’m sure that there’s been some exposure in some of the agencies as well,” she said. “About 40% of the people they are serving are new, they’ve never been to a food pantry before, and you know that’s been pretty consistent across the entire 10 county area.”

Shaw said they are keeping a close eye on the pending HEALS Act legislation, which does not include a continuation of the 15% addition to SNAP benefits.

“When you think about the average person gets $32 per week in SNAP benefits. Trying to eat for an entire week on $32 a week is pretty tough,” Shaw said. “15 percent of that is not a lot, but 15 percent is better than nothing.”

Lowcountry Food Bank is relying heavily on monetary donations, along with a variety of grants.

They’ve also teamed up with the College of Charleston to launch a Lowcountry Food Finder, a web tool to help people quickly find a nearby food pantry. To use it, click here.