Urgent delivery of 42,000 pounds of food arrives at Community Food Basket
IDAHO FALLS, Idaho (KIFI/KIDK) - The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints donated 42,000 pounds of food to the Community Food Basket-Idaho Falls.
The truck containing 24 pallets of food sent from the Bishops’ Storehouse in Salt Lake City will arrived at the Community Food Basket Warehouse Tuesday.
The donation includes 22 different items ranging from beef stew to green beans to flour to chocolate pudding.
The majority of the food will be distributed at the Community Food Basket located in Idaho Falls, but they draw clients from a five County area. Families come to them from Madison, Jefferson, Bonneville, Bingham and Bannock.
In addition, the Community Food Basket provides food and support to three other smaller pantries in Idaho Falls proper: The Salvation Army, St. Vincent De Paul, Cornerstone Pentecostal Church. They also share resources with The Giving Cupboard in Rigby, and the Rexburg Mobile Pantry.
The donation comes at a critical time for the Food Basket. The number of families coming in for food has risen from about 1,000 each month to around 2,000. Community Food Basket Executive Director, Ariel Jackson says they could never have guessed that this pandemic would have raged on for as long as it has with no foreseeable end in sight.
“We knew the number of those needing assistance would rise, we did not anticipate the skyrocket of a 90%-100% increase in the number of families seeking help with food from us,” Jackson said. “With the cancelation of the National Association of Letter Carriers Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive and the uncertainty of the Boy Scouts annual drive, CFB will be missing out on close to 100,000 lbs of food donations from those efforts. Donations going into the Holiday season are needed now more than ever.”
Doug Nelson, director of The Greater Idaho Falls Communications Council of The Church of Jesus-Christ of Latter-day Saints said they are just one part of the effort to meet this need.
“The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints appreciates the Food Basket and the work they, and other community partners, do to organize and disseminate critical supplies to those in greatest need,” Nelson said. “The Church appreciates the diversity of the many organizations and people who join together to provide assistance in times of emergency.”
The Bishops’ Storehouse where the food is coming from is a 570,391-square-foot welfare facility built by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to help the organization respond to disasters and take care of those in need regardless of their religion. It is housed on 35.88 acres in Salt Lake City and has the capacity to store 65,000 pallets of food and supplies. To date in 2020 the Church has delivered over 16 million pounds of food to food banks around the United States and has provided pandemic humanitarian aid for 895 projects in 150 countries.
The Community Food Basket-Idaho Falls will be responsible to distribute the food to those in the area suffering from food insecurity.
