SALT LAKE CITY — It’s been a busy few weeks for Shawn Clay, Director of Salt Lake City Mission, and his team of volunteers.
“We find people struggling that weren't struggling before," he said. “We got people coming to our food pantry that have never been to food pantries before.”
They’re getting ready to feed more than 85,000 Utahns this Thanksgiving.
“We see people that come up and, maybe they only have a can of soup or a can of vegetables," said Clay. "We see them just [say], 'Hey, I don't have much, but I want to give this to you.'"
“It's not just, you know, people that don't have jobs," said Clay. "We're seeing the working poor, we're seeing people that live in good zip codes, that have fallen on hard times and the inflation and gas prices and all these things going up.”
Inflation is hitting our local food pantries hard this holiday season, said Bill Tibbits, Executive Director of Crossroads Urban Center.
“We have been so busy this year," he said. "We're serving 75 percent more people than we did last year.”
Crossroads is preparing for its annual Thanksgiving Giveaway next Wednesday.
“Everything costs more, and so people need more help," said Tibbits. "At the same time, because everything costs more, it costs more for us to be able to help just the number of people who we serve.”
If everyone who has the ability could donate just one item of food, that would help our local charities feed more families.
