WASHINGTON (7News) — The Capital Area Food Bank is working around the clock to get food from their forklifts to the forks and spoons of families who may find themselves in need as a result of the federal government shutdown.
CEO Radha Muthiah told 7News that around 75,000 federal workers are estimated to be living paycheck-to-paycheck, and could need the food bank’s help if they are furloughed.
“Those are the families we are most concerned about because they have been living paycheck-to-paycheck. By missing one paycheck, they are likely to go from a place of financial sustainability to financial strain. We’ve seen with people, the one part of their budget that they tend to squeeze is the food part of the budget. So we anticipate, if this goes on for a little while, we’ll see many of those households be in need of extra support from us. Those are the households we are really gearing up to be able to support,” Muthiah said.
This will likely not happen overnight, however.
Muthiah said the work to stock up is still moving forward at full speed.
“From the 2018-2019 shutdown, what we saw is after that first missed paycheck, so that’s typically two weeks,” Muthiah said. “Families who live paycheck-to-paycheck only have, maybe, two weeks, to a month, to a little more than a month worth of savings. Pretty quickly, you can see without a paycheck coming in the door, they are going to be in need of our services.”
The shutdown arrived as the Capital Area Food Bank was already seeing an increase in need.
According to their recently released Hunger Report, 41 % of households impacted by federal job cuts this year – before the shutdown – reported difficulties getting enough food, which is more than double the 17 % for similar households not experiencing job loss.
“Hunger is an issue that is persistent and deepening in our area. This year, of course, we saw a population of former federal government workers and contractors also reach out for assistance,” Muthiah said. “This government shutdown occurs at a time that is really coming on top of both of those events: elevated need and new need, if you will, amongst former federal government workers.”
If you visit the food bank’s warehouse, you will hear forklifts zipping by, and lifting pallets of canned goods and produce to designated pick-up areas.
Muthiah said their work to keep this warehouse stocked is a year-round exercise.
“We have to be ready and stay ready for any sort of policy shift or event that could occur. There are a few key things we are constantly doing. First, monitoring various different federal policy shifts. Could those have an impact on our neighbors who are more vulnerable. Second, identifying who those neighbors might be and where they live, so we understand what members of our partner network are closest to them and will be able to support them. Third, we look at our food supply. We’re here in the warehouse. We want to make sure we have enough food supply for our regular distributions, as well as these additional distributions,” Muthiah said. “Lastly, really working closely with our partners, ensuring they have the capacity, they’re able to do extra distributions, those things are important so that anybody who needs the food will be able to get it in a dignified manner.”
7News On Your Side followed up by asking if the food bank has enough food supply to handle a potential influx of mouths to feed.
“Our food supply comes from three different streams: USDA (US Department of Agriculture), donated from retailers and wholesalers, and then food that we purchase. Last quarter, we saw a pretty sharp decline in the food that is provided through USDA to us, so we’ve had to ramp up our donated food, as well as our purchased food. We’re going to continue to purchase more food to make sure we have the kind of food we need and to have it here in time to be able to meet that need,” Muthiah said. “Our community has shown how generous they are. They have risen time and time again to support our neighbors in need and we’re hopeful they will do so this time, as well.”
Dining and Cooking