At the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank, over 700 cars flocked into a school parking lot to receive donations.
“The demand for food assistance is far higher this Thanksgiving than any Thanksgiving in the past,” said Michael Flood, president of the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank.
“For this Thanksgiving, we purchased seven truckloads of turkeys for distribution compared to three last year. So that gives you an idea of how much we see the demand increasing.”
In Texas, the San Antonio Food Bank has experienced double the usual demand.
Food Bank CEO Eric Cooper said before the pandemic they were feeding 60,000 people per week. Now it’s up to about 120,000 per week.
In New Jersey, the Meadowlands YMCA has been offering free boxes of food to anyone who arrives.
“The need has been getting more of a demand than when we started. We were averaging around 150 cars each Tuesday, now it’s over 500, and 50,000 meals a month, and now we’re well over 100,000 meals a month that we’re supplying,” said David Kisselback, president of meadowlands YMCA.
