MERIDIAN, Idaho — As the cost of living rises here in the Treasure Valley, many are feeling the pinch on their wallets and turning to local food banks for groceries. Here at the Meridian Food Bank, they’re seeing that increase of need reflected on their pantry shelves.
“So we’ve more than doubled [operations] in 5 years,” said Kent Christensen, Meridian Food Bank Executive Director and Treasurer.
Lunchtime at the Meridian Food Bank means volunteers like Jaydee Hanson are busy feeding the community.
“You can see the process going on here, it happens every day,” said Christensen. "We’ll have 150-200 cars come through our drive-up, and we’ll load them up."
In addition to thousands of people receiving groceries each month, Meridian Food Bank Director Kent Christensen and lead volunteer Hanson tell me they serve hundreds of students at almost every school in the West Ada District with their ‘Backpack Program.'
“Whether it’s a bag of food or a hug, it’s so good being able to be part of a program that helps out the community,” said Hanson.
At the same time, students over at Renaissance High School in West Ada School District are grabbing lunch, but some may be worrying about the cost in the cafeteria more than their classes.
“We’ve had a lot of conversations with families that are not able to make ends meet and still need to feed their kids, so luckily West Ada has a policy that will make sure we feed kids, and we try to work with families, [like] we make payment plans. [And] I’m so excited, we have the summer feeding program that offers families free meals,” said Kristen Homer, the Assistant Director of School Nutrition at West Ada.
“I would say we always see the need grow, and the part that always shocks me the most is how much need is in areas that don’t seem like they have the need,” said Anne Brock, the Supervisor for West Ada’s School Nutrition Services.
While the food pantry buzzes during distribution time, a young volunteer tells me why she loves to serve her community.
“That we get to help people that are in need [and] give people food,” said Bella, a young Meridian Food Bank Volunteer.
With so many in the community trying to make ends meet, food donations are down. Christensen tells me it’s cash donations that will best help their organization provide for the community.
As operations increase, the Meridian Food Bank has plans to build an expansion on their building over the summer.
