The downtown Olympia location of the Thurston County Food Bank served 220 people on Wednesday and plans to serve 240 on Friday, the nonprofit's development director said.
But that number in the next week or two is expected to jump significantly, the result of coronavirus-related closures of restaurants, bars, businesses and schools.
"The need for food is increasing," Judy Jones said. "We have adequate food in reserve at the moment, but we're always looking for more."
In addition to needing food, the food bank is also adjusting operationally to coronavirus. More than half of the food bank's volunteers are retired, a demographic susceptible to coronavirus, so they have stayed home, Jones said.
The food bank typically has 30-35 volunteers on a normal day, but only had five, plus a food bank staff of seven, on Wednesday, Executive Director Robert Coit said.
Given the smaller staff and social distancing requirements, the food bank is no longer allowing customers to shop within the store, but is handing out pre-bagged items of food.
Coit could put out a call for more volunteers, but then he runs the risk of violating coronavirus guidelines for group sizes, plus new volunteers need to be trained.
And with a smaller staff, he can't run a food drive right now because he doesn't have the people to pick up the food, he said.
The food bank works with area school districts and educational authorities to distribute food to children. Jones said they need donations of canned fruit, canned pasta dishes, or chili, plus granola bars, plain ramen and cup-a-soups.
If you deliver food to the food bank, they may not have enough volunteers to help offload that food, but they will provide a cart that be loaded and delivered, Jones said.
Thurston County Food Bank
The main location of the food bank is in downtown Olympia at 220 Thurston Ave. NE. It is open for shopping 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.
Executive Director Coit said the food bank is also needing cash donations. Donations can be made online, or in person, or by mail to the address shown above.
