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Dear Friends,
There is no way to sugarcoat it—things are tough at Bellingham Food Bank. In 2022, the visits to our food bank doubled. We averaged 3,500 household visits every single week. The combination of rising rent, food costs, and other macro-economic factors brought more people to our food bank than in any other time since 1972. It’s not slowing down either. Now we’re pushing 4,000 visits every single week. We are beyond thankful to be a community driven organization. Your support has kept our doors open while we grapple with record high demand.
Unlike some other social services, food banks receive no change in funding as need goes up or down. While governmental support is valuable it is sadly not linked with the need. Food is expensive for us all, even food banks. The standard food banking model is to scramble for donated food and buy food to fill in the gaps. This model does not work given the number of people we serve, resulting in us buying shocking amounts of food. Our ability to secure funding is strong, but it is not without limits. To stay sustainable, we are providing much less to shoppers than we would like. People leave our food bank with fresh, delicious, and healthy food. But we also know they could use more of it.
Right now, we are tackling the situation with passion and energy. Staff are working hard to secure additional funding. We are talking with local elected officials to see if and how government can step up to ensure people in our community have access to the foods they need. We are partnering with other non-profits, food businesses, and farms to find less expensive opportunities for food we need such as: eggs, milk, produce and protein. We will continue to work with you, our supporter, to keep you updated on our progress. I am confident we can find good, sustainable solutions. However, it will take help and support. Thanks for being there, stay tuned.
-Mike Cohen,
Executive Director
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