A community member attending one of our mobile pantries recently said it best: “For a lot of families, it’s about a crisis, not necessarily prices.” One medical emergency. One car accident. One job loss. One circumstance that is out of anyone’s control and can upend a person’s budget: that’s all it takes to go from being someone who supports Food Bank of the Rockies to being someone who needs Food Bank of the Rockies.
Right now, inflation, rising cost of living, and an overall sense of uncertainty are making life extremely challenging for many of our neighbors. Even if they are currently able to pay their bills and put food on the table, all it would take is one unanticipated hardship to nudge them across the thin line between stability and crisis.
Take Jeff for example. We met him at one of our mobile pantries in Thornton and he shared with us a little bit about what’s been going on in his life. “Right now, my food stamps have been cut down to practically nothing, so I’ve got to get food somewhere. You know, with the heat bills rising and I’m just about to be retired and don’t have any other income other than Social Security — you’ve got to make do with what you can. Sometimes you just need help anywhere you can get it. You’ve got to come out on cold days, warm days, and sift through it. Get what you can get. And God bless you that we’ve got this. Without it, I don’t know what some people would do.”
So many of the neighbors who use Food Bank of the Rockies’ services never imagined they’d be in a place where they’d be in line for food instead of handing out food as a volunteer. But then life happens, and before they know it, they are coming to us for support.
Due to many reasons, food insecurity is at a 10-year high right now and we need your help more than ever. For our neighbors who are towing the line between stability and crisis, for families who are trying to plan for life without the support they’ve come to rely on, for older adults, like Jeff, who are making do as best they can but still need help: We will be there, thanks to your support. Together, we can nourish anyone in our community in need of food.
