Food banks prepare for holidays

MAT-SU — Requests for food baskets is up in the Valley a Thanksgiving nears.

Organizations contacted Friday said demand is up, but the reasons varied from the economy to more people moving to the Valley. For the most part, donations are keeping pace.

That isn’t true at the Salvation Army, though, where Christina Harris, social services director, said almost 20 percent more people have applied, while donations are slightly less than in previous years.

“We are still accepting dinner rolls or bread, and small turkeys,” she said.

The Salvation Army have boxes for all sizes of families from one to two people on up.

“Our biggest family is 15,” she said.

This year, the organization will give out 566 boxes on Monday and Tuesday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. She said applicants have been given appointments spaced three to five minutes apart so they don’t have to stand out in the cold, often with children in tow.

Kathy Bishop of Our Lady of the Lake Catholic Church in Big Lake said requests are up there as well.

“We’re planning giving out 45 food baskets this year,” she said. That’s up from the 35 given out last year. “We figured there might be more” people needing the baskets because of the economy. Donations, however, have been up and the church has some cash on hand to buy more if needed.

The church plans to hand them out today.

Henry Guinotte, manager of the Palmer Food Bank, said that group will give out food boxes Monday and Tuesday for people who have signed up for the donations. Monday, they go out from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Tuesday it’s from 9 a.m. to noon.

“We’re going to give out 171 boxes,” Guinotte said. “That’s up from 140 last year. I’m still short about 20 turkeys and 36 quarts of milk. I’m willing to buy those.”

Guinotte said he thinks demand is up because there are new people in the area and because he’s heard some of his customers lost their Permanent Fund Dividend checks due to unpaid bills, back child support, court fees and other reasons.

“Most of them, if they have jobs, have minimal jobs,” he said.

One of the reasons they are able to meet the increase in demand for the boxes, Guinotte said, is because the Boy Scouts and Palmer Middle-Junior High School students had Borough-wide food drives that brought in a lot of groceries. Those donations were split between Palmer and the Food Pantry of Wasilla, he said.

Pastor Ed Blocker at Valley Open Bible Fellowship said it gave out between 150 to 170 boxes Saturday, about the same as past years. But donations were up, he said, mainly because of service clubs helping out in the Big Lake area. Individuals also stepped up this year with more donations.

Some of the Mat-Su organizations where food can be donated can be found at www.foodbankofalaska.org/viewPage.php?ID=33.

Contact T.C. Mitchell at valleylife@frontiersman.com or 352-2269.