The Salvation Army is in need of more donations for their food pantry, especially during this time of year. They say the summer season can be challenging as they start to see donations drop but demand increase.
One of the main reasons is due to school break. The Washoe County School District provides its own programs that help feed students during the day, but when school is out, so are those programs.
Northern Nevada Coordinator, Major Randy Hartt, says, "One in five children are struggling with food insecurity here in just Washoe County alone because school is out. So, some of the feeding programs that they normally have, the breakfast and lunch program, has been minimized."
The Salvation Army says they often see an increase in demand but a decrease in donations this time of year.
But it's not just them. They say many of their partners such as Food Bank of Northern Nevada are experiencing the same thing.
Hartt says while school break plays a big part, so do federal cutbacks and other current economic challenges.
"Gas prices, costs of food, I mean everything right now. We're waiting for it to stabilize, but still there's a lot of things happening in this community that are just driving prices up."
Last year the Salvation Army's food pantry served meals to more than 25,000 people. With an additional 26,000 people who come in-person for their bread line that provides snacks and ingredients.
This year they say they've been seeing a steady increase, giving out more than 1,900 food boxes a month.
Hartt says, "We help hundreds of families a week so I would say probably a month we help somewhere in the neighborhood about 1,500 families or more per month."
He says while all donations are greatly appreciated, one of their biggest needs right now is protein-packed foods, ground meat, chicken, pork, peanut butter, canned soups, and anything else fueled with protein.
"If you pass by grab an extra chicken, if you grab an extra set of meat bring it in here, or if you got a few canned goods bring them in here. We could use all of that stuff and it's very important to help us get through this time," he said.
To learn more about the Salvation Army and where to donate you can click here.
