DAYTON — Food insecurity has gone down according to a nationwide new study, but in the Miami Valley people are still visiting food pantries at a higher rate than before.
Workers at the Foodbank in Montgomery County say people are needing meals more frequently than ever before.
The Foodbank hosted a small food donation in Trotwood this summer but was shocked at the number of people who showed.
“We served well over 1,000 and actually, unfortunately, had to turn some people away and direct them to their local food pantry,” said Lee Lauren Truesdale, Chief Development Officer of the Foodbank.
It was a rarity for Truesdale to have to do.
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“In my 10 years here, I’ve only had to do that twice,” Truesdale said.
A study done by Feeding America says food insecurity is down, but as Truesdale sees, people are still using food bank services.
“We’re looking at data from 2021, releasing in 2023 and 2023. The economic status of many folks that we see every day is drastically different than what it was 2021,” Truesdale said.
Back in 2021, the latest available data, stimulus checks, food drives and temporary COVID SNAP benefits were available.
Now stimulus checks and those COVID SNAP benefits are no more, and food drives aren’t filling the gaps.
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“We’re really seeing it worse than ever right now and we can really attribute that to the high cost of food,” Truesdale said. “Also, folks are still trying to recover from everything we’ve been through and you saw SNAP cut earlier this year. So there’s a lot of different factors that really contribute to that at the end of the day.”
This leads people to consistently rely on the Foodbank.
“Last year we were seeing a service visit of about 4.67 times per year per family. Now we’re looking at over 5.06 so folks who are needing food assistance for longer periods of time,” Truesdale said.
People like Truesdale continue to work to keep everyone fed.
“It’s a challenge to wrap your head around it, and so that’s what we’re working toward, and that’s what we’re here to serve,” Truesdale said.
To help the Foodbank name, donations are helpful but they also need volunteers. To sign up to be a volunteer, you can visit their website here.
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