Last week the Food Bank of Lincoln held a special drive-through distribution, sharing hundreds of pre-packed bags of food. But they had such long lines, they were forced to extend the time slot by two hours.
“There was a lot of gratitude and tears in those cars,” said Scott Young, executive director of the community’s Food Bank. “So many people are only one-degree separation from financial disaster right now.”
Feeding America researchers project a 45 percent increase in Americans facing food insecurity in coming months as a result of COVID 19: People who already face daily hunger, but also those who have never faced it before.
“People are losing their jobs, face furloughs, people have so suddenly been thrust into a crisis situation,” Young said. “There’s indeed a generosity here, Nebraska strong. We’ll need it. We are sprinting right now, but this is definitely a marathon.”
The Food Bank will use Lincoln Community Foundation’s COVID19 Response funds to cover dramatically increasing food demands, as well as to pay additional labor costs.
