Food FARMacy Closure

• August 23, 2022
• Lonnie Valencia

Unfortunately, due to challenging times, we cannot sustain the operation of the Food FARMacy.

The Food FARMacy program provided food to low-income seniors in a grocery store-like setting. On average, this facility serves 450 senior families daily.

Contributing factors that affected the immediate closure of this program:

High Demand/Lack of Funding - During the Pandemic, the demand for food increased dramatically, and so did monetary support. Now, the need for food remains relatively high, but donations and funding has decreased. So far this year, one hundred fifty-three thousand families receive food from us, and more families signup daily.

Inflation - Food and transportation costs have increased, forcing us to travel further and pay more.

Food Shortage - Food has become more scarce than ever before. We are now competing for food with other food banks with more money and resources.

Lack of Weekday Volunteers - We are still very short of volunteers needed to sustain a healthy operational food bank.

These

four issues combined have resulted in the decision to consolidate staff from

the Food FARMacy and focus on repackaging food and manning the Mercado. As time

moves on, we hope to see relief soon. Until then, we ask for donations and hope

for your support... because no one should go hungry.