Elk Grove Food Bank says day after Thanksgiving is crucial for restocking
ELK GROVE — With Sacramento-area food banks struggling to keep up with demand due to higher grocery costs and more visitors, the Elk Grove Food Bank is taking full advantage of the day after Thanksgiving.
The food bank is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. During its early days, they saw around 150 people per month. Now, five decades later, they serve 8,500 clients per month — and the need is even greater during the holidays.
They call the day after Thanksgiving one of their most crucial restocking days.
"Today is pretty much the busiest day of the year, I think," Elk Grove Food Bank driver Eddie Frutchey said on Black Friday.
The day after Thanksgiving, their shelves looked pretty full, and that's because the Elk Grove Food Bank said this is one of their most important donation days of the year.
"They're bringing food to us by the truckload. The stores are emptying their shelves of their Thanksgiving ware and setting up for Christmas," said Elk Grove Food Bank warehouse manager Mark Walters. "So we got quite a few trucks coming back in this morning and a lot of people working to put things up on the shelf."
Food bank employees were out collecting donated food from partner stores like Costco, Sam's Club and Bel Air to fill the warehouse back up with food to prepare for the next holiday rush.
"I've been out since about 6 this morning and this is the second full truck I've filled today," Frutchey said, showing us a pickup.
Walters said that the shelves looked a lot different on Thanksgiving Day: empty after serving more than 1,200 turkeys to people in need. He also said they collected 40,000 pounds of canned goods from local schools and most of it got eaten up quickly.
"Between Thanksgiving and Christmas, the need really grows," Walters said. "People want to celebrate with their families and serve their families a good meal during those times."
The food bank said people are showing up for food at all hours and days like Black Friday allow them a chance to keep up.
"It just keeps coming. There's just so much food and the need is great though, so it fills the need quickly and makes up for those times we don't get as many donations," Frutchey said.
The Elk Grove Food Bank also serves pet food and provides clothing. They have around 200 volunteers on a regular basis but say they could always use more, especially around the holidays.
