Local food banks have survived COVID-19, but with National Guard leaving, they need help

The coronavirus might have shut down sports, schools and restaurants, but food banks across Pierce County have seen their largest number of visitors.

Nourish Pierce County is the largest network of food banks with over 23 sites throughout the county, including sites in Roy, Graham and Edgewood.

According to CEO Sue Potter, Nourish Pierce County is expecting the highest number of visitors in its 40-year history.

Potter said she expected this to be the case since many people began to lose their jobs and schools were being shut down. She said the numbers are double of what they were in 2008’s Great Recession.

Likewise, Jim Beaudoin, the chief executive officer of the Puyallup Food Bank, has been giving out about 10 pounds more food per person and serving twice as many people this year.

The increase in visitors means a greater need for volunteers.

Since many of NPC’s volunteers are in the most vulnerable age group to contract the coronavirus, there has been a decrease in the amount of help they normally receive, Potter said.

The National Guard has stepped up to help food banks across Pierce County and will be working through the end of July.

“We’ve had around 63 National Guard folks deployed with us since April, and we are currently going to be losing all of them at the end of July,” Potter said. “We are really working hard to recruit new volunteers to come out and take over the roles that the Guard had played.”

Before the coronavirus, visitors were able to walk through the food bank and pick out what they wanted. But since restrictions limited the amount of contact between people, Nourish Pierce County and the Puyallup Food Bank have been boxing food and delivering the boxes to visitors’ cars.

“The model we used to have just wasn’t going to work because then we needed to practice social distancing and wipe down computers and grocery carts,” Potter said. “I mean that’s going through a lot of supplies and a lot of risks, so we quickly switched to a pre-packaged box, drive-thru, curbside system.”

Ed and Rachel Wright, who have been married for 72 years, visit a Nourish mobile food bank almost every week. The new system “goes pretty fast and we don’t have to wait in line that long,” they said.

When the coronavirus hit, Beaudoin was worried how his team would continue to operate.

Thanks to the Safeway and Albertsons Corporation, the Puyallup Food Bank has been able to work out of an old 40,000-square-foot storefront.

“They agreed to let us use their space that they had still under lease for up to a year,” Beaudoin said. “The space allows us to continue using volunteers because now we have enough space to actually create social distancing and putting in space between items.”

For most of their services, food banks fundraise for almost everything they do. Potter said that most of the food they distribute is from donations or purchased through fundraising.

Due to the coronavirus, Beaudoin and Potter have also seen support from the government.

Over $2 million has been allocated to food banks across Pierce County from the CARES act.

According to Pierce County’s Cares Act Funding Outcomes, $750,000 was spent between June 7 and July. Between June 1 and May 31, 1.61 million pounds of food were distributed by the emergency food network and over 54,000 households were served.

Another $1 million is being considered by the county council in a proposal from Councilmember Derek Young of District 7.

“There definitely has been an impact from the CARES act,” Beaudoin said. “We have been able to use that funding right away. I want to say it’s somewhere close to $60,000.”

The CARES act also helped reimburse the $500,000 emergency funding that was given to food banks and homeless shelters in March, according to Kari Moore, the public information specialist for Pierce County.

“There’s maybe some 70 food banks across the county. It sounds like a lot of money up front, but once you do all the math, the money that trickles down to your local food pantry is significantly reduced,” Potter said.

For Nourish Pierce County, Potter said that it has cost more than $35,000 to operate per month. So a gift of $60,000 only lasts two months.

Normally, the Pierce County Human Services Community Development Block Grant public services dollars fund a wide range of activities, including some food banks, according to Moore.

The dollar amount depends on how the Citizens’ Advisory Board makes its funding recommendations, Moore said.

Potter said the money from the CARES act was primarily used to purchase food and safety equipment.

“Five gallon buckets of hand sanitizer, that cost me $5,000,” Potter said. “I don’t budget for that, and I don’t budget for boxes that we need to pack food and grocery bags that we’re now having to purchase so that we can do that drive-thru service easier. So [CARES] funding has absolutely helped us.”

Potter and Beaudoin know the funding from the government will eventually end. So, they have been glad to see the continued support from the public.

The Puyallup Food Bank has seen an increase of over 550 new donors in the last three months.

“We’ve gotten nothing but encouragement from folks. I can’t tell you how wonderful that is that people come and they’re grateful that we’re here to help them. We want to continue doing that,” said Beaudoin.