St. Mary's Food Bank in need of donations

PHOENIX (FOX 10) - St. Mary's Food Bank says they are struggling to keep up with demands, and the problem is two-fold.

Some of the shelves at St. Mary's Food Bank are bare. This time of year donations tend to drop, but there's another issue too.

"Right now we have about 30 percent empty shelves in our coolers because the fruits and vegetables that we normally receive from the border, they're just not coming this year," said Jerry Brown.

Jerry Brown works at the food bank.

"Last year we received about four million pounds during this time, we're at about two million pounds this year, so you're talking about 2 million pounds less of fresh fruits and vegetables that we normally get this time of the year," explained Brown.

Brown says the weather affected the production of fruits and vegetables they rely on from southern Arizona.

"We've had a shorter growing season, it's not as abundant," said Brown.

Now St. Mary's Food Bank is asking for the public's help to fill the shelves. They're asking for citrus, especially oranges. They say any unused fruit from your trees can definitely be used.

"If you pick those and bring those to the food bank, we could certainly put them to good use," says Brown.

For more information on how to donate to the food bank, click here.