Early one recent Friday morning, six senior citizens sat in lawn chairs in front of the Thurston County Food Bank’s (TCFB) Food Pantry at 220 Thurston Ave. NE in downtown Olympia.
“I got here around 6:40, and the food bank doesn’t open until 10:30,” said Larry Messenger.
“If we get here later, there’s a chance there will not be as much food to get,” added Kim Shearer. Both added that the bank’s staff is professional and caring.
For more than 50 years, the nonprofit Thurston County Food Bank has labored to provide food and resources to individuals in need.
“We exist to eliminate hunger in our local community with a strategy of neighbor helping neighbor,” said Judy Jones, Senior Director of Operations and a veteran of the nonprofit world. “We provide food for all, and we provide it with dignity and compassion.”
Jones added the food bank serves approximately 1,000 families per week out of its two pantries, and that the number doubles when the satellite partners are included. To accomplish this task, approximately 60,000 pound of food is needed on a weekly basis to meet current needs.
“Holidays can be a challenging time and so are the summer months when children are out of school and have no access to breakfast or lunch at school,” explained Jones.
“Since rounding the corner from COVID, we continue to see a steady weekly increase of five to seven percent who are first time users of our services.”
She also added the 96 cents of every dollar donated to the TCFB supports the purchase and distribution of food. The stewardship of serving people who need food now faces a more difficult challenge.
In March, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced it is cutting two federal programs that provided about $1 billion to schools and food banks to buy food directly from local farms, ranchers and producers.
The decision comes as the Trump administration and Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, slash federal spending to reduce government waste.
“This will impact the amount of food provided as well as funding,” said Jones. “We are creating contingency plans to adjust service if needed, identify new resources for funding and food, and we will be sharing with our community the economic impacts and the way they can support us.”
The six senior citizens know what may be coming.
Richard Stewart, a Navy veteran, spoke for all of them when he said, “The folks who work here hate having to give us the bad news about this situation. They understand, as we do, that what the government is doing hurts everyone who lives on a fixed income and needs just a little bit to get by.”
For more information about locations and hours of operation, call 360.352.8597 (all locations) or visit info@tcfb.org.
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johnvaneenwyk
Ah, Musk and DOGE. Saving a dollar to then have to spend five dollars (or more) down the road. How about “an ounce of prevention (providing food for individuals and families in need) is worth a pound of cure (increased medical expenses, begging, no energy to do what needs to be done to survive, etc. etc.)
We never learn, do we?
Saturday, April 19 Report this
jimLacey
"we continue to see a steady weekly increase of five to seven percent who are first time users of our services"
So number of people doubles every 3-4 months. I don't see how this is a sustainable operation even not considering federal cuts.
Saturday, April 19 Report this
Boatyarddog
AGAIN we see the HORRIABLE effects that DONALD J TRUMP is causing to Our Citizens, our Enviroment and Our Nation.
DOGE, THE EVIL ENTITY that TRUMP unleashed upon our Public is Wreaking Havioc Upon Our Children, Our SENIORS, ALL classes of People, EXCEPT the Wealthy.
WE MUST call upon CONGRESS TO IMPEACH THIS MENACE TRUMP AND HIS MINIONS.
CONTACT YOUR REPRESENTIVES, ATTEND THE PROTESTS BEING ORGANIZED AND BE ACTIVE IN FIGHTING FACISISM.
We MUST END THIS DICTATORS GRASP UPON good citizens.
Sunday, April 20 Report this
OHDadmin
Did you know that 2 cans of donated food is the the only registration fee for participants in this Saturday's Procession of the Species? Participant or spectators can drop off food this week at the Armory Art Studio lower level on Legion and Eastside, Donations also collected Saturday at the registration area at Legion and Cherry. Thank you Eli Sterling and Earthbound Productions for all you do to bring us this glorious Earth Day Celebration for 30 years!!
Monday, April 21 Report this