Hi friends of Care and Share,

Care and Share Food Bank is reaching out to the community for extra support this holiday season. The recent and ongoing natural disasters across the country have caused transportation costs to skyrocket, putting an extreme strain on our operations.

We share resources with our sister Feeding America food banks across the nation, including trucks, produce, and food donated from large manufacturers and farmers. The trucks we typically deliver food to us are be diverted to focus on emergency relief and rebuilding efforts that are vital for the communities that have already lost so much. The hurricanes, floods, and fires have also inflicted extreme damage, if not destruction, to crops and fields in Texas, Florida, California, and the Pacific Northwest. This is a setback for food banks across the country, including ours, because we relied on produce in those areas.

With fewer trucks to deliver food to our distribution center and fewer food sources, freight and food prices for truckloads have nearly tripled. A typical truckload for us used to be in the $2,000 range, which is what we had budgeted for. Now it’s anywhere from $5,000 or more. Because of that huge spike, we have had to turn down food orders, which means less food is making it into our distribution center. 

We have been watching this situation closely for months, and, while we had hoped the negative effects would be short-lived, that’s not the reality we are facing. Our neighbors in need rely on us, and we aren’t able to do what we do every day without the financial support of the community. We are reaching out to our community members to help make sure we can continue to bring in adequate amounts of truckloads of healthy food for our neighbors in need.

We want to thank you for your support. We wouldn’t be able to do what we do without you.