Central Coast food banks: Need is up

For the first time, Second Harvest in Santa Cruz County says it isn’t setting a goal for food donations. They aren’t setting a goal for this year; not even for Thanksgiving. The reason is because they are not sure they’ll reach their goal. The need for donations just keeps growing.

The communications manager for the Santa Cruz County Second harvest says, ” we wish we had better news but the problem of hunger is not going away.”

Santa Cruz County’s food bank says they need about 56,000 meals a month this year. That number is even higher than last year’s meals needed per month. While some may be focused on Thanksgiving, at Second Harvest, every meal is important.

“The holiday season is a traditional time of giving, it’s when people think about it. For us we’re fighting hunger all year long,” says Lowell.

Thanksgiving may be approaching, but this food bank is not focusing on turkeys, but on everyday meals that families need.

The marketing officer for Santa Cruz County’s Second Harvest Suzanne Willis says, “Many of our clients don’t actually have a full kitchen so cooking a turkey really requires that you have a large scale oven that you can use for many hours.”

In Monterey County, it is a different story. The freezer is full of 2,400 donated turkeys. Here too, the need goes way beyond Thanksgiving.

Melissa Kendrick, executive director for the food bank in Monterey County says,
“Our numbers continue to go up. We’re specifically in the vulnerable populations, in the seniors and the children.”

Like Santa Cruz County this food bank has a growing need.

” We live in a area which has a lot of high cost associated with it so in a lot of times they’re making a choice between paying rent or buying food,” says Kendrick.

With so many people now in need of this kind of help, they say any donation, no matter how large or small, has never been more important.