While some cities’ food banks are requesting additional donations of food and help during the holidays, the Durango Food Bank is facing a different problem.
“We do not have enough room to store all the food donated,” said Sarah Smith, director of the Durango Food Bank.
The current warehouse, where volunteers weigh, measure and package food, is too small to accommodate the increased supply during the holiday season.
“We have been really fortunate in this community that people are still sending in donations,” Smith said.
Holidays traditionally are a time when food banks have the highest demand. While most families look forward to good times together and traditional holiday foods, some face the added stress of how to stretch a paycheck for bills, gifts and food.
That’s especially true in places such as Durango, where many people are employed in construction. Smith sees a higher amount of people requesting food because construction work is at a low when snow is on the ground.
The Durango Food Bank delivers 10,000 pounds of food a week, which Smith acknowledged is an amount that sometimes is hard to comprehend. She explained it as providing about 120 households with three meals a day for two weeks: That’s a lot of food to store and prepare.
Pressed for space, volunteers are stacking the donated food in piles but often find that they are tripping over food as they go about their work preparing it for delivery.
Not only does the food bank need to store the 10,000 pounds for the week, but it also needs space for food that is going out the next week.
“We try to go by a first-in, first-out policy to keep food from going bad,” Smith said. “It’s hard to do right now because there is no space.”
Because of the current food disorganization system, volunteers are finding it difficult to keep to their rotation. They can’t always locate older donations underneath newer ones.
Smith said the food bank has some opportunities to expand its current 2,000-square-foot facility in Bodo Industrial Park into some additional space in the current building but lacks the money to do so. The food bank has the opportunity to receive grants that will match whatever it raises to help pay for the expansion.
Those who would like to donate to the expansion program are asked to specify the expansion fund in their donation to ensure there is no mix-up about where the donation goes. Smith emphasized food donations still are needed; an expansion is no help if food isn’t available for clients.
This article has been corrected to reflect the actual size of the current Durango Food Bank.
Hannah Robertson is a Durango High School senior who is spending several hours a week studying media in the Herald newsroom.
To donate
To help the Durango Food Bank raise money to expand its storage area, write “for expansion” on the memo line of a check and mail it to Durango Food Bank, P.O. Box 156, Durango, CO 81302.
For more information about food donations or to volunteer, call 375-2672.
