Empty cupboards

Emergency food supplies down as Christmas nears

By JILLIAN JONES
Register Staff Writer

The California Association of Food Banks reported last week that federal emergency food supplies are dramatically lower in 2007 than in previous years, jeopardizing the network’s ability to serve the state’s hungry.

Napa organizations, including the Salvation Army, say they’re feeling the sting.

Capt. Michael Johnson of the Salvation Army Napa Corps said donations since Thanksgiving of this year are well off in comparison to last year. “We’re very empty right now,” he said.

While Johnson said he hasn’t noticed a significant drop in the quantity of donations from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, “The quality we’ve been able to get (from them) before seemed better than now.”

“It’s an unprecedented set of circumstances,” said Kim McCoy Wade, executive director of the California Association of Food Banks. “As the holidays approach, many of the food banks in the state are lacking the most basic items. We are sending families away without the fundamental products that make up a nutritious meal.”

In Napa, Johnson said, the need is greater than it has been in the past. In 2006, the Salvation Army Napa Corps served 520 food boxes for Christmas. In 2007, Johnson estimates “605, at least.”

Last year, for the first time, the Salvation Army was forced to tap into its operational funds to provide holiday meals, Johnson said. This year, the group will likely have to do the same.

“Right now we’re just hoping and praying that we get enough (food) that we can meet the needs of everybody. ... We don’t like not providing after people have signed up,” said Johnson. Whether it be through last-minute donations or the Salvation Army’s own expense, he said, “One way or another, we’re going to meet what they need for Christmas.”

But even tapping into operational funds may prove more difficult than in the past, he said, as kettle collections this year are “considerably down.” He estimates that at the end of the collection season, donations will fall short of the Salvation Army’s $100,000 goal by $5,000 to $6,000.

Johnson said he’s “still trying to figure out what’s going on” with the drop in donations. One reason, he said, could be the economy. “We also had the wildfires that people donated to” instead, he said. The California Association of Food Banks attributes the decrease in food supplies from the USDA to relatively high farm prices in recent years.

“All those things affect us locally,” said Johnson.

Christmas donations of boxed goods, crackers and boxed soups are appreciated, he said, and “canned meats and things we usually got in the past we’re really down on.”

At the Napa Valley Food Bank, Dianne Anderson said turkeys are needed. Last year, she said, “a turkey was provided for each household receiving a food allotment during the weeks before Christmas. We hope to have enough turkeys to do so again this year.”

Fresh meat must be donated frozen.

The Napa Valley Food Bank has locations in Napa, American Canyon, Angwin, Berryessa, Calistoga and north of Yountville.

The holiday season, she said, “is a crucial food collection time for the Food Bank, both for holiday meals and as a stock for the coming year.”

Caroline Spence, program coordinator for the Table at the First Presbyterian Church, which provides Christmas meals for those in need, said, they have food “right now. In mid-summer, we’ll start needing food.” Meals on Wheels also has the donations it needs to get through the holiday season, said Program Director Leslie Moore, “but we’re always looking for volunteer drivers. ... We could use about five more drivers at least.”

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