HAMPTON, Va. — More families are turning to local food banks now that emergency SNAP allotments have ended.
The high demand for food has left shelves inside the Virginia Peninsula Foodbank bare, according to CEO Karen Joyner.
“The food that you see on our shopping floor when you go down towards the back, we’ve purchased a lot more food than we’ve ever had before,” Joyner said.
Joyner said donations have decreased for months, while visits to get food assistance have increased by about 30%. She said when food does arrive, it doesn't stay in house for long.
"We're not even getting as much in our federal commodities as we've had in the past three years," she said." So, we're using some of our donated food in the boxes with our federal commodities. Just so when the recipients open the box when they get home, there's something in there."
A volunteer with one of those partner agencies says they are feeding hundreds of people and the need continues to grow.
“We have a lot of people, elderly," Hector Cruz Jr. with the Peninsula Spanish Seventh Day Adventist Church said. "Their choices are either I get food or I get my medication.”
That’s why Joyner said the food bank is working diligently to purchase food to stock the shelves but she hopes to see more donations flow in soon.
“When our partner agencies are saying, ‘help us get more food,’ that’s our responsibility," Joyner said. "It’s to make sure that we have food to give to our partner agencies.”
To find information about making a donation, visit the Virginia Peninsula Foodbank's website.