Local Food Banks Short on Food

Local food bank supplies drop to an all-time low and the Access food bank is depending on donations to feed families this holiday season.

Every year Sherm Olsrud, owner of the local Food 4 Less and Thunderbird stores, donates a truckload of non-perishable food to Access.

This year, the food couldn't come at a more crucial time. It's one of the biggest donations access food bank gets every year, more than 25,000 pounds of food.

“We have a lot of needy people in the valley, sometimes you have to step up and help out a little bit,” Sherm Olsrud, Food 4 Less & Thunderbird.

And it all couldn't have come at a better time.

Just last week the foodbank shelves were nearly empty.

“It's the biggest slump we've had. It's the same all over the state, and probably the same all over the nation too,” said Philip Yates, Access.

The food bank is facing one of it's biggest crises ever.

“We've gone through ups and downs before but this has been consistently low over the last six months,” said Yates.

They serve more than 3,000 families a month with an average of a 5 to 7 day food supply.

“5-7 days wasn't enough back then, 3-5 days is what we're looking at in the interim but we are expecting more people to come we re looking for more resources,” Yates added.

Yates says reasons for the shortage include major decreases in supply from the federal commodities program, fewer donations, and a long list of food recalls.

But it's the local food pantries that really feel the affects.

“The things we used to get we don’t get now is rice beans and those things we used to get from the federal government is no longer coming to us,” said Vivian Nordhagen, co-manager Gloria Dei Food Pantry.

“When your food stamps don't last the whole month, and you have a really big family -- it really helps out,” said Cheyenne Robinson, a woman who depends on food donations.

With 14 people in her household Robinson says she visits local food pantries at least once a week to gather whatever she can.

“Sometimes I wonder what id do if we didn't have it here,” she said.

For now food bank officials say they're doing what they can.

“It’s going to be tight…but its not going to be Access it’s going to be people out there struggling on a day to day basis,” said Yates.

Yates says even though food drives and donations from local grocery stores help, it's not a permanent fix for the food shortage.

He says food banks throughout the state are working with farmers in Eastern Oregon to establish programs to respond to the food shortage.

Next Monday, Oregon Senator Ron Wyden is scheduled to visit access to see for himself the affects of the food shortage.