KSWT: Local News, Weather, Sports Yuma, AZ El Centro Imperial Valley, CA Yuma Community Food Bank Sees Consistent Increase...

Yuma Community Food Bank Sees Consistent Increase...

Yuma, AZ August 17 - With the unemployment rate through the roof in the Desert Southwest more and more people are turning to food banks to provide a meal for their families.

Jody Hasty the Resource Development Supervisor at the Yuma Community Food Bank says "Our shelves our getting bare our bank accounts are getting low and we have just seen a huge need in our community"

Hasty says in the last six months there has been a drastic increase of people the food bank has assisted. She says, "Back in March we saw approximately 11,000 people and in July it was over 16,000. On a monthly basis we are actually looking at 600 to 700 new families that we have never seen before."

 According to a recent study by feeding America the food insecurity rate is 27.9 percent for Yuma County, but a lot of those families aren't even eligible for food stamps. Hasty says in the big picture children wind up the most affected. She tells News 13, "Those fluctuations on what those laws and requirements are need to be adjusted because we are finding that those children and those families do not qualify and therefore their on our doorstep at 7:30 in the morning, before we even open at 9, waiting in line to receive some kind of services."

 The Yuma Community Food Bank says there are a number of ways for the community to get involved and help. Hasty says, "We would love for you to organize a food drive. We also want to encourage people to start a fund drive."