While unemployment numbers are slowly improving, local food banks are seeing an uptick in the number of underemployed people coming through their doors.
Five years ago, St. Mary’s Food Bank distributed around 43 million pounds of food each year. That number jumped to 74 million pounds in a two-year period. That’s according to Jerry Brown, St. Mary’s Director of Public Relations.
Brown said there’s been a slight dip in the amount of food being distributed, but he hasn’t seen the trickle-down effect of an improving economy.
In fact, about 50 percent of the people who come to St. Mary’s actually have jobs.
"They just don’t have the same job that they had before," Brown said. "They had their hours cut or they’re in a position now where they don’t make as much money as they did before."
Brown said the number of underemployed people coming to St. Mary’s is almost the same as the number of people who are without jobs.
