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St. Mary's Food bank asking for help as more families are in need of assistance
The school year is wrapping up, and food bank officials say that, along with inflation, high gas prices and major rent increases, mean there are more families that are in need of their services. FOX 10's Bailey Miller reports.
PHOENIX - St. Mary's Food Bank is in dire need of donations, as officials say the amount of families they are serving has skyrocketed in the last week, to levels not seen since the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
As a show of the demand for food bank services, a line of cars at St. Mary's Food Bank on the morning of June 1 began to impact traffic.
"We haven't seen a thousand people in a day at the food bank since the height of the pandemic, since spring of 2020," said Jerry Brown. "It has been a long time since we have seen this."
Brown says the reason for this influx include major rent increases, high gas prices, and inflation. Also, as the school year concludes, families are picking up food for their kids.
Food bank officials say currently, they have enough food to serve families, so long as donations continue to come in. However, they are also dealing with their own supply issues.
"When it comes to food, when it comes to supply line problems, some things we can't get that we would like to have, that we want to put in our emergency food boxes and order ahead," said Brown.
Brown adds he doesn't expect the trend of higher demands to stop any time soon, which is why he says donations are needed now.
"As we head into long summer, and utility bills are going up, and they will be $250 and $300 and inflation, looking like it is going to be lasting.I t will be a long summer," said Brown.
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St. Mary's Food Bank
https://www.firstfoodbank.org/