Food bank warrants big helping of support
Thursday, May 22, 2008 11:48 PM PDT
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St. Vincent de Paul, one of the largest food banks serving this community, should be operating out of a new, roomier facility by Labor Day. Ground was broken Thursday for construction of a 10,000-square-foot building at 1222 Baltimore St., on property donated by the Sari family. The new building will give the food bank some 1,800 more square feet than it now has to work with at its building in the 1000 block of Fir Street. That’s good news.
The not-so-good-news is the growing need in the community for food assistance. The food bank served about 4,000 people last year, distributing 600,000 pounds of food. St. Vincent de Paul and other area food banks are likely to put up bigger numbers this year. The spike in oil prices and the diversion of crops to biofuels production are serving to drive up food prices, sending more families to food banks.
Higher food costs also make filling the shelves of St. Vincent de Paul and other food banks more of a challenge. How much of a challenge was made clear a couple of weeks ago, when contributions to the 15th annual National Association of Letter Carriers local food drive fell almost 25 percent short of the previous year’s contributions. Postal employees in the Longview-Kelso area collected about 42,000 pounds of food for the Help Warehouse Food Bank. That compared to 55,000 pounds collected last year and 56,000 pounds in 2006.
People in this community have responded well when the need for assistance spiked in years past. Early in the ‘90s, a weak economy had a large number of area families struggling to put food on the table. The demand for emergency food soared, quickly clearing the shelves of many local food banks. The call for help was heeded by the entire community. Area grocers, churches, school children, service clubs and others went to work to provide the needed assistance.
We have no doubt the community will respond in like fashion if the need arises, stocking the shelves of the new St. Vincent de Paul facility and other area food banks. The need now is to make sure the new building is completed before the demand for food and other assistance increases next fall and winter. St. Vincent de Paul board members say they are some $200,000 short of the $550,000 needed to finish the project. They are pursuing grants, but also will need help from individual donors. We encourage members of the community to step up. It’s a worthy cause.
To make a donation, mail or drop off checks to St. Vincent de Paul, 1011 Fir St., Longview, WA 98632. For details, call 577-0662.
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