When the COVID-19 pandemic shut down schools and many businesses in March 2020, the Chattanooga Area Food Bank saw an immediate spike in the number of area residents needing food assistance after losing their jobs or access to the free- and reduced-price meals traditionally offered in schools.
“For us, COVID created that perfect storm of increased demand, declines in donations of food and a disruption to our charitable food assistance system model,” said Jennifer Lockwood Fritts, director of community engagement for the Chattanooga Food Bank.
“But along with a 40% increase in the need for our services in the past year, we also saw an incredible response from the community and the government. One of the great things that this pandemic did was to bring food insecurity into the public eye.”
Companies, individuals and foundations boosted their giving on relief efforts, including $750,000 in grants to the Food Bank by the BlueCross BlueShield Foundation.
The government pumped more money into food banks through its Farmers to Families Food Box program, the Tennessee Community Cares Act Program and the Paycheck Protection Program. As a result, the Chattanooga Area Food Bank was able to increase the number of meals offered to needy persons in its 20-county area to a record high of 18 million in the past year.