Volunteers Needed At Washington Food Banks As Omicron, Costs Rise

SEATTLE — Food banks and pantries in Puget Sound and across the United States are in dire need of volunteers as the highly contagious omicron coronavirus variant continues to infect Americans.

It’s an unfortunate challenge as many food pantries already struggle with increased need as well as the rising costs of food and other goods.

This need is closer to home than you may think. In fact, Western Washington is one of many places that have been profoundly affected by hunger in 2021.

Before the pandemic, about one in ten Washingtonians were considered food insecure, according to Feeding America, the nation’s largest domestic hunger-relief organization. The continuing economic fallout from the pandemic has swollen that number dramatically. For example, in King County, food insecurity grew from 8.7 percent in 2019 to 10 percent in 2021. Pierce County saw similar growth, from 10.9 percent in 2019 to a current projected insecurity rate of 12.3 percent.

Nationwide, more than 38 million Americans — including 12 million children — are considered food insecure, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Meanwhile food banks have experienced a 55 percent spike in usage through the pandemic, according to the latest Feeding America data, erasing a decade’s worth of progress toward ending hunger in the United States.

The volunteer shortage became apparent on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, when food banks across the country traditionally organize mass volunteer drives as part of a day of service, according to a report by The Associated Press. This year, many food banks canceled their plans or pressed on despite having dramatically fewer volunteers than before the pandemic.

Volunteers have always been a “critical lifeline” to food banks and food pantries, Kathryn Strickland, chief network officer at Feeding America, told Patch in a statement.

“A majority — 51 percent —- of food programs rely solely on volunteers, and the pandemic interrupted our daily connection to friends and neighbors who give their time to make a difference in their communities,” Strickland said. "As food banks continue to grapple with the pandemic’s perfect storm of supply chain disruptions and increased need, many are welcoming volunteers back into their operations and are putting the call out for more helpers.”

Prior to the pandemic, nearly 2 million volunteers provided more than 8.4 million hours of assistance across the Feeding America network. About half of Feeding America’s 200 food pantries have no paid staff and rely solely on volunteers.

Food banks generally use volunteers to sort through donations and to pack ready-made boxes of goods for distribution. It’s common to arrange for local companies or schools to send large groups of volunteers, but many of those groups have also pulled out from helping, The AP reported.

Vince Hall, government relations officer for Feeding America, said the volunteer numbers are partially a reflection of long-term emotional fatigue and burnout. As the nation rides out its second pandemic winter and the omicron variant rolls back some of the progress people expected from the vaccine, longtime volunteers are wearing down.

“These people who are really part of the bedrock of our volunteer workforce, They’ve been doing this since March of 2020,” Hall told The AP. “It takes an emotional toll on people.”

How To Volunteer

As of September 2021, nearly 80 percent of Feeding America food banks were accepting new volunteers, according to the organization.

While volunteering can look different depending on where you’re at, here’s a sampling of the jobs you might do:

• Keep pantry shelves stocked and assemble food boxes for pickup.
• Help with fundraising or raise awareness of food pantry services.
• Deliver meals or food boxes.
• Assist with distribution at drive-thru or mobile food pantries.

To volunteer, here are a few nearby food pantries in Washington.

• Food Lifeline
  815 South 96th Street, Seattle, WA
  https://foodlifeline.org/
• Second Harvest Inland Northwest
  1234 E. Front Avenue, Spokane, WA
  https://2-harvest.org/
• Bonney Lake Food Bank
  24015 State Route 410, Buckley WA
  https://www.bonneylakefoodbank...