By WHITNEE ICE
St. Joseph Post
Second Harvest Community Food Bank was able to serve its 19-county area well last year, thanks to the donations they received during the pandemic.
Second Harvest Spokesperson Blake Haynes says donors rallied around Second Harvest and what it does for the community.
"We really just saw the communities in our area and our 19-counties really just rally together to help their neighbors in need," Haynes tells St. Joseph Post. "We had a lot of, even some first-time donors, some recurring donors, some that have given for multi-year, even give more than what they have in the past."
Many people lost their jobs or were sick, and unable to provide for themselves or their families last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Haynes says the food insecurity rate went up significantly during the pandemic.
"At the beginning of the pandemic we were right around 45,000 food insecure individuals within our 19-counties," says Haynes. "Now fast forward to peak time pandemic numbers come out and we are right around 64,000 food insecure individuals."
Haynes says Second Harvest has been able to support food insecure individuals with donations from the community. He encourages the community to continue to donate and says every dollar donated provides three meals.