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Renton, Wash. – The Salvation Army is stepping up the battle against food insecurity in the western Washington region.
What they’re saying:
The organization says local food pantries need help in restocking their supplies heading into the holiday season.
Leaders at the Renton Salvation Army location at 206 S. Tobin say the food has flown off the shelves in recent weeks, when families experienced a gap in SNAP benefits.
They say they are running low on some food items with less than two weeks to go until Thanksgiving.
“We filled up our freezer with turkeys,” said Captain James Parks at the Salvation Army Hope Market in Renton. “We’ll allow them to shop at our Thanksgiving wall. They can choose some of the items they want.”
James says the food bank is a “client choice pantry” that allows people to pick up what they need for their families.
He says they are getting ready to distribute food for the upcoming holiday weekend. Seasonal donations, like boxes of stuffing and canned yams, are shown on the “Thanksgiving Wall”, pictured below.
Because there is so much uncertainty surrounding SNAP benefits due to the government shutdown, James says the need is greater than ever.
“It is very difficult to keep the shelves full already,” said James. “The past Monday, we saw there were many new clients coming in. Not only were they new clients, but some were clients we hadn’t seen in 3–4 years.”
Instead of around 150 people coming through the pantry daily, James says the number of clients has gone up to around 200 a day. He says that’s a 30% increase, and he feels it hasn’t slowed down.
“We haven’t seen people receiving their benefits yet. There are still people who are coming who are scared because there are delays in the benefits.”
He says businesses are feeling pressure too, with the economy putting a damper on the number of rescue donations coming from partners as well.
“All these are rescue items,” he said, pointing to some baked goods. “The grocery stores are already tightening their belts, you know, purchasing less, which means there is less waste.”
James is putting out a call to the community for help. He says people can donate online at this link, or by dropping off goods in person in Renton. Soup, canned chicken and tuna and canned fruit are the most needed items at that pantry.
“Anybody who would like to drive by and drop those off would really be blessed,” he said.
James says the Salvation Army’s Red Kettle campaign has also kicked off for the holiday season and that will, in part, help to fund food pantries just like the Hope Market in Renton.
He says more than 20 Salvation Army pantries and meal programs are operating across the Pacific Northwest.
“We want our community to know we are here for them,” said James.
He says they hope to hand out 400 turkeys at the Renton pantry along with other fixings before Thanksgiving.
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Jennifer.Dowling@fox.com (Jennifer Dowling)
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