Nov 19, 2008 (The Peninsula Gateway - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) --
It's been a busy month for the Gig Harbor Peninsula FISH Food Bank. Last Thursday, as volunteers rushed to stock the shelves of the small building off Burnham Drive, a line of people seeking help filled the food bank's waiting room.

That day, FISH volunteers Joe Silva and Art Ude diligently unpacked bags of food donated by Purdy Elementary School students. Ude, who has been volunteering for five years, looked around the food bank's storage room and pointed to now-filled shelves.

"A couple of months ago," he said, "we hardly had any food on the shelves."
Silva, a 16-year volunteer, seconded Ude's assessment. He said this year has been busier than any he's ever seen. With the economy in trouble, more families and individuals are requesting both food and financial aid -- that is, money to pay for bills, rent or gas.

And with the holidays approaching, both FISH and Key Peninsula Community Services, the area's only other food bank, are focused less on putting together turkey baskets than on keeping their day-to-day operations afloat.

In October, FISH served 302 families, totaling 840 people, 378 of which were children. It's the most the Gig Harbor food bank has ever served in one month, said Jan Coen, the food bank coordinator and president of FISH's board of directors.

FISH, for the most part, has been able to weather the stark increase in demand, because community donations have also increased, thanks to a well-orchestrated fundraising campaign that began earlier this year.

Coen said there's been a "100 percent improvement" in the amount of food on the shelves since the campaign began. FISH already had received 75 donations in the first two weeks of November, and Kitsap Credit Union will hand the food bank a check for more than $1,400 this week.

But KPCS hasn't been as fortunate. While demand has increased by 174 percent, there haven't been nearly enough donations coming in to meet the increase.

The food bank in Lakebay served 170 more families last month than it did last October. It currently serves 270 families with a once-a-month supply of basic groceries.

"It's really part of this economic downturn," said Penny Gazabat, the director of KPCS. "It's having a ripple effect, I think, on food bank and social services."

Gazabat said she thinks that effect is why donations are also dwindling. The ability for people to donate food is affected when they can't afford to buy food to give. Regular donors no longer buy an extra jar of peanut butter at the grocery store, due to tightening budgets and higher food prices.

KPCS hasn't been able to get as many food supplies from Emergency Food Network, an organization that provides food and other essentials to more than 70 food banks, hot meal sites and shelters in Pierce County.

There have been a few times in the past couple months when KPCS hasn't received its salvage -- what Gazabat describes as a "hodgepodge of canned goods, boxed mixes" and other basic necessities -- from EFN.

There's also a different clientele coming to KPCS that increases demand: People who are facing unemployment and considering using social services for the first time.

"There's more people that had normal jobs or a 401(k) that they're tapping into," said Tracy Golden, KPCS Food Bank manager. "I had one real estate agent coming in who hadn't worked in four months."

Couple that with high demand and KPCS has seen a rough few months. The food bank has had to turn people away, asking them to come back a week later for their weekly food supply.

Figuring out how to meet basic demand means holiday food baskets have taken a backseat at KPCS. During the holidays last year, Golden said the food bank was able to provide a turkey basket to a family's monthly food pickup.

"This year, we're afraid we won't be able to do that," Gazabat said.
Boy Scouts Troop 220 and the Basket Brigade have provided some holiday donations, and -- as of Tuesday -- KPCS started to give out all the turkeys it has in stock. But it's not certain that every family that requests a turkey will get one.

Instead, KPCS is focused on helping its new patrons with everyday needs.
"It's a nice thing to be able to do, to provide them with a food basket," Gazabat said, "but our focus is to supply them with a three-day emergency supply of food."

The same goes for FISH: Coen said demand always goes up in the winter months -- and not because of the holiday season.

"The winter months are more difficult to find work in," she said. "I think that's the main reason."
For now, FISH is using the increase in donations to feed and clothe the people it regularly serves. As the economy gets worse, Coen said it will impact the poorest the most, including the disabled and elderly.

Some people, like Sheila Williams and her 4-year-old granddaughter Jasmine Freeland, are simply going through an unforeseen rough patch. The pair has been going to FISH every week for the past three weeks, after Williams' Olalla home burned down last month.

The house is smoke-damaged and currently uninhabitable, and Williams isn't sure if her family will ever be able to move back in. They're currently staying with friends in Shelton.

Willams said she's grateful for all the help that FISH has provided her family, but she hopes she won't have to use its services for much longer.

"Just until we get back on our feet," she said. "And then we can let the people who need it most use the food bank again."

How to donate
Key Peninsula Community Services, 17015 9th St. Ct. KPN in Lakebay, needs non-perishable and perishable basic foods, like sugar, flour, soup, oatmeal, dried beans, canned meats or beef stew. Call the food bank at 253-884-4440 for more information. Cash donations are also accepted.

FISH Food Bank, 6617 38th Ave. NW in Gig Harbor, is accepting all donations. Call 253-858-6179 for more information.

Reach reporter and columnist Paige Richmond at 253-853-9243 or by e-mail at paige.richmond@gateline.com.

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