More and more older adults are food insecure, which means an increase in the number of seniors coming to food banks.
Inflation and high gas prices are leading many older adults to come to St. Mary’s Food Bank in Surprise.
Jerry Brown is the director of public relations for the nonprofit. "We are seeing more folks, about 2000 more now in the month of June than we did in the month of February," Brown said.
Brown says many are coming to the food bank for the first time in their lives.
"The area that we're at in Surprise, which is right on the border of Sun City and Sun City West, in 2020 and 2019, we were seeing 150 to 200 people a day come to the food [bank]. Those numbers are averaging 300 to 400. And we're seeing as many as 500 a day," Brown said.
While not everyone there is an older adult, Brown says a good portion are.
Another challenge he says is simply the lack of volunteers this time of year.
