WILLCOX, Ariz. (KGUN) — Food pantries across Cochise County are experiencing an unexpected surge in demand as families continue to struggle with rising grocery costs and unemployment challenges.
The Willcox Food Pantry distributed free food to about 250 local families on Monday morning, according to Director Nell Worden. While this number was lower than November's distribution, it represents more families than the pantry typically serves during this time of year.
"We've had the record number of people coming through compared to last year, but we've been able to give the food," Worden said.
The pantry typically hands out food for 300 families per week, following a busy holiday season where they provided over 1,200 meals for Christmas and Thanksgiving. The high demand has left little time for the pantry to recover its supplies.
"They say groceries are going down, but groceries are not going down. I've been looking at all kinds of prices in order to buy, to restock," Worden said.
She says she knows personally how higher grocery prices can affect pantries, since she shops for the nonprofit.
“I try to go and buy as cheaply as I can," Worden said. "I try to watch all the prices. I try to watch all the sales, and I try to be, you know, very frugal with the money that we get. We still need food to be brought in. We still need donations to be brought in.”
The food pantry currently has about six weeks worth of food remaining, assuming demand doesn't continue to rise. However, Worden doesn't expect the numbers to decrease anytime soon.
"Do you see that number going down anytime soon? No, I don't. I don't see inflation going down. So I don't see that number going down. Do you see it going up? I see it going up. And a lot of that depends on the employment rates here in the rural areas," Worden said.
According to the Arizona Office of Economic Opportunity, unemployment in Cochise County was at 5.2% in November. This trend is worrisome to Worden and food pantries across the county.
"Just because the holidays are gone that people still need to eat and that we are still struggling in order to make sure we have enough food to help people," Worden said.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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