A busy summer precedes a busy fall for Food Bank

TUCSON, Ariz. — There's a reason why they're glad to see the summer end at the Community Food Bank of Southern Arizona. "For our staff, for volunteers, for the national guard that are working alongside us," said Norma Cable, PR specialist for the Food Bank. Those were the folks who soldiered through Tucson summer heat to hand out food to hundreds if not thousands on the daily. "That was a real test for us." Because of the pandemic, the Food Bank changed its distribution site to the Kino Sports Complex. Cable said summer was usually a cool down period for demand. "We did not really see that this summer, we saw and we continue to see long lines of people starting early in the morning." 3 a.m. on same days, Cable said. "We can serve 1,000 or 1,200 families in a morning." As busy as this summer was, the Food Bank said supply is good, for now. "We do have a good supply of food. We are not, currently, in a danger of...running out anytime soon." Cable said heading into fall, the Food Bank usually sees a rise in demand since school supplies can cut into a families budget. "Right now with school being the way it is and with the world being the way it is we just are not quite in that same situation," Cable said. "We do know that demand is up and we do know that we do need to be consistent in terms of supplying the amount of food that we can to families in need." Regardless, she said, the pandemic has assured a steady demand for food. "We are seeing people that we have not seen before who are reaching out to receive emergency food for the first time." Thankfully for them, Tucson and Southern Arizona was generous during a summer that tested it's supply. "People who donated their stimulus check when received it recognizing that they didn't really that extra fund and sending it into us." Click here to donate now or ahead of the fall.