Some Renton food pantry shelves are barely covered and the need for food is still great; that’s the report from area food banks this holiday season.

The Renton Reporter talked to a few food bank managers to see how supplies are stacking up and got an earful. Most reported the same if not growing numbers of families signed up for their food programs this holiday season, as influenced still by a lack of government support due to cuts in assistance programs.

And all of the local food banks are in need of donations this year.

Renton Salvation Army

The Renton Salvation Army has just one turkey so far for their Thanksgiving drive and 500 are needed for the families who have already signed up to receive food baskets. They didn’t quite get the number of turkeys they needed last year and had to resort to small chickens and other meats to feed large families and are hoping that will not be the case again.

A lot of the managers blamed the cut in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program or SNAP benefits and food stamps for the rise in need in the community. It was the same situation last year, when an inventory was done of local food shelves.

“So they’re going to feel it, of course, during the two holiday months,” said Beverly Storey, director of social services for the Salvation Army, Renton. “So, we’re anticipating that our numbers will be up in November and December just because they’re cutting back on food stamps for those two months. It’s a budget issue.”

There are about 630 families signed up for the Renton Salvation Army’s Christmas baskets.

Not only are food donations low, the Salvation Army still needs 111 volunteers a day starting Nov. 17-Dec. 24 to man its red kettles for their bell-ringing fundraising campaign.

“Everything is tied in,” said Martha Barrett, Salvation Army community liaison. “The more volunteers we have, the less money we have to pay out. The more money we keep, the more turkeys we’re able to provide and the more people we’re able to provide for.”

Since the red kettle campaign is the organization’s big fundraiser, staff tries not to have to hire paid bell-ringers, so as to provide more funds for the Salvation Army.

Emergency Feeding Program

At the Emergency Feeding Program donations are also down. The program moved recently to The Landing and seasonal dips in resources aren’t that common. The program’s peak months are between February and April, when deliveries average 2,000 per month. Staff does experience occasional food shortages on specific items they use in multiple bags of their 15 different versions of food packs.

“My opinion is that the level of food insecurity has reached a level that has scared our local and national politicians which in turn moves them away from the issue,” said Glenn Turner, executive director of the program, via email. “Over the past year, government funds (SNAP) had been reduced to levels that will make for those affected by it very difficult to sustain their families, and it seems that businesses and large corporations (are) following suit. The gap continues to increase!”

St. Vincent de Paul at St. Anthony

Staff at the St. Vincent de Paul food bank at St. Anthony echo the same sentiments. The center usually supplies about 65 bags of food a month, but in October staff handed out 92 bags.

Right now, their shelves are pretty bare.

“You know we have given more food out to families for emergencies than we ever have,” said Lani Cavit, food bank manager.

For Thanksgiving, there is no special food program, just handing out food bags as usual. But, plans are already under way for their food and gift baskets. St. Vincent de Paul at St. Anthony already has a list of 100 families they have to supply with food and gifts. Last year they had 140 families in the end who received assistance.

“Last year there was an exceptional need and we had enough stuff,” said Cavit.

Donations come from food drives students at St. Anthony School supply and from parishioners of the church. Now staff at the food bank are seeing a lot of working poor come in for food assistance, said Cavit. These are people she guesses got laid off last year, found new jobs, but aren’t able to fully support their families with their new jobs.

“I think the people in Renton are being served, but unfortunately there’s getting to be more and more of them,” said Cavit.