Bay Area Food Banks Stretched Thin As Demand Surges Due To Pandemic
SAN JOSE (KPIX) - As the pandemic stretches on, Bay Area food banks are being stretched thin.
In Silicon Valley, the Second Harvest food bank is operating in a new normal mode as demand for free food is surging.
"In February we were serving about 270,000 people. Now we're serving over 500,000," Cat Cvengros, Vice President of Marketing.
Cvengros said demand doubled in just a few weeks and isn't slowing down.
KPIX 5 went inside the Second Harvest Food Bank where it literally takes an army to package all the food boxes which will be sent to hungry people throughout Santa Clara and San Mateo Counties.
This group is from the 129th Rescue Wing of the California Air National Guard. The guard stepped up when shelter-in-place nearly wiped out the food bank's volunteers.
"We lost almost all of our volunteer help, which is about 40 percent of our workforce," Cvengros said.
Second Harvest says the pandemic has also created a large new class of people who are seeking help for the first time. And they might be needy for a long time.
"Usually a crisis is over in a matter of days, you think hurricanes, wildfires. This crisis is going to last a year or a year and a half. Second Harvest and all the food banks in the Bay Area and the world have to be here," Cvengros said.
