NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY) — The annual Mayflower Marathon is the Super Bowl of sorts for the Foodbank of Southeastern Virginia and the Eastern Shore. But after Thanksgiving, there is no overtime.
Christopher Tan, president and CEO of the local Foodbank, is monitoring the decline in contributions as the need for food is on the rise.
“The holidays are a great time for Foodbank,” Tan said, “which means a lot of attention to our work and the need in the community, and thankfully, a lot of resources. But the need for hunger doesn’t really have a season. And so we know that those resources dwindle throughout the year.”
Compounding the problem, it’s game-over for pandemic-era subsidies for families in need.
“For most of our food pantries, there are 200 partner agencies [charities that feed the poor] they’re seeing between a 20% and 30% increase in their lines in the last two years,” Tan said. “Pandemic-era opportunities like SNAP, extra SNAP benefits, unemployment benefits, the stimulus money, all …