For Sarah Sanchez and Kate Savage, this is the busy season. The search is on every day here for the basic stuff of survival. From here in Gardnerville, the food goes out to about 500 families in need in Douglas County.
"It did surprise me, the amount of need in the community to be honest, after having grown up here and just seeing how many clients we serve,” says Savage. "A lot of our clients are elderly, and a lot of clients are children. So, both of those populations often can't and don't work,” says Savage.
The small pantry, about double the size of your garage, serves all of Douglas County's needy. Kate, Sarah Sanchez, and the 50 volunteers like Mike, do an amazing job, feeding an average 500 families a month. And they just hit an all-time peak of 94 families served, in just one day.
"Which is just unheard of!"
"And why do you think that is?" asks John.
"I think with the holidays coming up, and I think it's just the under-employment, the part-time employment..."
"Cost of living?"
"Yes, cost of living."
For many, jobless benefits have run out, and more are getting by on part-time pay like the working single mom who comes here with her two kids.
"And not being able to work full-time means that she still has to come here, even though she's relatively self-sufficient."
A third of the Food Closet's clients are kids. Feeding them is important here.
"To make sure that they're focusing on school, and not worry about things like a hungry belly is really important to us."
In a time when children should be happy and excited about Christmas, too many small hands reach out.
Just a reminder that tomorrow is our annual Share Your Christmas Drive-by Food Drive! From 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., we'll be collecting donations at the Grand Sierra Resort in Reno, the governor's mansion in Carson City and the Carson Valley Inn in Minden.
