(Host) The Vermont Food Bank says the state’s emergency food system faces a crisis.
That’s because fund-raising has slowed dramatically.
Christine Foster is the interim co-chief executive officer at the Food Bank.
(Foster) “What we’re seeing is actually about a 24 percent decrease in the number of gifts that we’ve received so far compared to last year at this time. In terms of the money it means that we’ve raised nearly 40 percent of what we need to raise this December. If we do the math on that, that’s not looking so good for the next 10 days.”
(Host) That means the Food Bank needs to raise a half-million dollars over the next ten days to stay on budget and meet the demand for food.
Fund-raising at the Food Bank is critical for many agencies across the state. That’s because the Food Bank distributes food and other assistance to local food shelves and hunger programs.
Foster says 90 percent of the money donated to the Food Bank goes to support the agency’s core mission and the only 10 percent goes for administration.
Demand for help from the public has risen dramatically, so the Food Bank has begun planning for how to meet the need even if fund-raising falls short.
But Foster says food will be provided for those who need it.
(Foster) “Things have to move ahead. We have to get the food into this food bank. We have to distribute food to the food shelves. There’s no turning back on that. We will somehow figure it out and make it happen. And we’re hopeful that our donors and the people in the state will help us do that.”