COLORADO SPRINGS — Food banks across Colorado say they’re experiencing a higher demand than normal for their services. That means more families and people are struggling to put food on the table.
“We saw a 15-20% increase in need across our pantries in Southern Colorado,” said CEO of the Care and Share Food bank Nathan Springer
Care and Share helps provide food to pantries spanning across 30 counties. Springer says there are several reasons or the increased demand.
“Unfortunately in Colorado, food prices have remained obstinately high. We've seen that need sustained since last summer, and we're about to see another increase with the SNAP benefits going away," continued Springer.
SNAP benefits were originally expanded during the COVID-19 period for a limited time. Those expanded benefits expire in March.
That means an individual will lose around $90 a month in food vouchers. A family of 4 will lose $360 a month.
This comes at a time when several food pantries, like the Salvation Army, are seeing empty shelves.
“The 7 years I've been with the Salvation Army, I have never seen the shelves this empty,” said Jeane Turner with the Salvation Army. “We see about 30 people every single day. We're giving away at least 300 food bags a week”.
The Salvation Army is asking for donations of nonperishable food items to help serve the community. They’re always accepting cash donations and volunteers like Christopher Hopkins.
Hopkins has spent the last 4 years volunteering with Care and Share food bank in his free time. “I’m always happy to help out people who are hungry, and I’ve always been a fan of just helping out in general wherever things are needed,” he says. “We all have our various talents that can be put to use. No matter how small it is, we can all help out with our strengths”.
To find food near you, you can visit Care and Share's website. To donate to Care and Share, you can click here.
If you'd like to donate your time or money to the Salvation Army, you can visit their website.
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