At Utah Food Bank, we love numbers! Statistics keep us focused. They remind us that 1 in 7 Utah children don’t know where their next meal is coming from. That 374,000 fellow Utahns face insecurity. Numbers help us know we’re on the right track. (bottomlineequipment.com) We loved sharing that we delivered 14.4 million pounds of food between March 1st and May 31st, 2.5 million pounds more than the same period last year! It was fun to crunch the numbers and figure out that that amount of food would fill 1,107 semi-trucks, which, end-to-end, would stretch 15.3 miles. That’s longer than the distance of Salt Lake City, north to south!
But numbers are only part of the equation. It’s the faces behind the facts that keep us Fighting Hunger Statewide. It’s the stories, not the statistics, that keep us connected. And while we can’t collect and share every story, here are a few.
Lily
“I have adult-onset diabetes, which caused a stroke, so now I can’t see out of my left eye. Things are hard for me, and getting a job isn’t an option right now. I have 3 kids at home, so with my husband, there are 5 of us, and this food is a huge help – it has blessed the lives of so many. I am so glad that none of this fresh produce is going to waste – we even freeze some of the food, or can it, so that we can make it last longer. It’s risky for me to go out, my autoimmune problem is a big issue, and I could get this virus easily. I don’t go out very often, but I do come out to this. If I had a million dollars, I would make sure this program always continues. Thank you so much – please keep it up!”
Katie
“I have 6 kids, and I homeschool them all. They have a lot of medical issues, so it’s hard for them to go to school because they get sick constantly. I found the mobile pantry about two years ago, and we’ve been volunteering and helping out ever since, as well as getting food. The other volunteers have all been here for a long time, and I love them, they’re like my family. Same for my kids, they love helping out when it’s safe. It’s good to get out and get involved…it’s fun. And any food we get that we don’t need doesn’t go to waste. I’m with a homeschooling group, and we go downtown and feed the homeless. We pay for it out-of-pocket, so the extra food helps a lot.”
Jalene
“I’ve been coming to the mobile pantry for close to a year, and it’s been helping us with groceries every week. I have 2 kids, and for a while, it was tough every week to get groceries. This has helped us with the essentials. Some of the food here is also helping us eat healthier because a lot of times it’s more expensive to buy healthy food. And it’s been helping us money-wise by helping us afford to pay our bills. Thank you so much! It has been an immense blessing to my family and my neighbors, because the food I don’t need I’ve been giving to them. So it’s been helping them, not just us.”
On behalf of Katie, Jalene, Lily, and the hundreds of thousands of other names behind our numbers, thank you for your continued support! If you would like to help today, please click here to donate.