Number of people served by food bank rising

November 23, 2015 9:11 pm

By News Staff

news@abc6.com

As we get ready to gather around the dinner table with out families for Thanksgiving, some startling numbers were released Monday when it comes to the number of people who depend on Rhode Island’s food bank.

Each month the food bank serves thousands of people, and that number keeps going up instead of down. 60,000 thousand people in Rhode Island turn to the Rhode Island Food Bank, shelters, and community centers for help putting food on the table–a sharp increase from 33,000 people eight years ago.

"People are getting jobs but they are low paid jobs, part time jobs… They don’t get paid enough to buy their families food," says Andrew Schiff, CEO of the Rhode Island Food Bank.

Shanna Wells, the executive director at the West End Community Center in Providence, says the need is getting worse and worse.

"Folks may be working now but can’t catch up from how far behind they fell during the recession," says Wells.

The most at risk in the state? Children and seniors. Monday, some of them gathered at Pierce Manor, a low income house development, to get more information about a new program aimed at helping people just like them.

"A program that provides senior adults with USDA high quality food every month," explains Schiff.

Rhode Island will get 6,000 pounds of food each year. For Seniors like Maria Pellerano, she says without the help, she wouldn’t be able to provide for her family.

"Low income people need help, it’s not something that they want, it’s something that they need," says Pellerano.

The head of the food bank also says donations are down this year, making it tough to feed more people on a daily basis.