Food Bank of Alaska sees rise in demand as donations dip

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) - The Food Bank of Alaska is seeing lower than usual donations while the need from their partners has dramatically risen because of high inflation, according to the Chief of Advocacy and Public Policy for the Food Bank of Alaska Cara Durr.

“It’s really the perfect storm of things,” Durr said. “It’s, you know pandemic era programs ending, while we’re seeing record inflation, low donations, so we’re really hoping moving forward that we can increase our federal resources, we can increase our individual donations, and get families the help that they need.”

This month, the Alaska Department of Labor published a report that highlighted food prices in urban Alaska from April 2021 to April 2022. It found food prices went up 11.3%, meat, poultry, fish, and eggs rose 14.4%, cereal and bakery products jumped 10.2%.

“Everybody is feeling that pinch right, that increased cost of groceries,” Durr said. “People may feel like they have less to give than normal.”

Durr added many pandemic-era programs are finishing, and the SNAP emergency allotment, a boost to SNAP benefits during COVID will end in August. The Food Bank website has locations where you can donate food, and Durr said they encourage cash donations allowing them to purchase food.

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