JUDY WOODRUFF: With unemployment soaring,
the COVID-19 outbreak is taking a staggering
toll on workers.
As Stephanie Sy reports, food banks are ramping
up their services to meet demand, even as
donations, volunteers, and supplies are pressed.
Her story is also part of our Chasing the
Dream series on poverty and opportunity in
America
MATTHEW, Arizona: So, I'm in this line waiting.
There's over 2,000 people in this line at
the United Food Bank in Mesa, Arizona.
STEPHANIE SY: Matthew, who preferred we not
use his last name, was in a long cue leading
to the parking lot of the Mesa Convention
Center, waiting for a week's supply of food.
MATTHEW: I'm here because I'm one of those
gig workers. Basically, the business has dried
up. There's no money to be made. I was down
to like $4.00 in my bank account and no food.
Car payment's late. Everything's late. So,
to me, it's worth it waiting for probably
been over an hour already for this -- for
this food bag.
So, this is what they gave. It's pretty good,
man.
STEPHANIE SY: The distribution line is drive-through
only, one of many precautions Dave Richins,
president and CEO of United Food Bank, has
put in place in the wake of the outbreak.
DAVE RICHINS, President and CEO, United Food
Bank: We're going to start temperature readings
on every volunteer that comes. Anybody that's
not in the -- a safe temperature range is
going to be sent home. We just can't risk
it.
STEPHANIE SY: Richins told us by Skype they
are serving four times as many people as usual,
like many states, enlisting the help of the
National Guard.
DAVE RICHINS: So we're seeing the Uber driver
that has no more fares to pick up. We're seeing
the maid at the local hotel that is not working
near as much as she used to.
We're just seeing a lot more of the recently
unemployed in our lines. But the elderly are
still there. And so making sure those populations
stay separated and safe is important. But
the thing that breaks your heart the most
are the families with the kids.
STEPHANIE SY: The food bank saw a lot of new
faces.
SHARLA BEGAY, Arizona Resident. I'm a student.
I just finished at Pima. Right now, they're
not hiring for dental assistants, so I'm just
on hold because of the whole thing that is
going on. So I heard on the news that -- I
have two kids, so this would really help out,
help me out a lot.
STEPHANIE SY: Heidi Nitti was getting food
for other people.
HEIDI NITTI, Arizona Resident: I'm in need
to help people, the disabled, and also people
that are retired that can't get out that are
sick. And, mostly, all this food is going
to people on my property where I live.
STEPHANIE SY: From Los Angeles, California,
to Duquesne, Pennsylvania, across the country,
cars waiting in mile-long lines to receive
food packages.
Since the coronavirus outbreak began, food
banks have seen demand increase by as much
as 50 percent in some places, says Claire
Babineaux Fontenot, CEO of Feeding America,
the largest hunger relief organization in
the U.S.
CLAIRE BABINEAUX-FONTENOT, CEO, Feeding America:
We have seen this before, just never at this
magnitude.
The average American doesn't have $400 in
cash available to deal with a financial emergency.
People started losing their jobs. People started
missing checks. Most people in this country
are one check away from being in need of some
new source of food and other things that are
necessary for sustenance.
STEPHANIE SY: What about the impacts on all
of the many people that volunteer their time
at food banks, many of whom I would guess
are elderly?
CLAIRE BABINEAUX-FONTENOT: Our volunteers
are inordinately elderly. Consequently, we
have a bit of a perfect storm going on right
now.
So we have increase in demand, decrease in
supply, and a significant decrease in our
volunteer work force. Some of that decrease
in work force is us wanting to look out for
the safety of the people where they are trying
to help us, and they're particularly vulnerable.
MAN: Folks, we are sold out of paper towels
and toilet paper.
STEPHANIE SY: The mad rush for supplies as
families prepared and stockpiled for home
lockdowns had the knock-on effect of limiting
donations from major retail grocers that food
banks rely on.
DONALD TRUMP, President of the United States:
All right, thank you, all.
STEPHANIE SY: The recently passed CARES Act
directs more federal funds to food insecurity,
including $300 million for purchases for the
Emergency Food Assistance Program.
But Babineaux-Fontenot is worried about the
needs gap. And her organization issued a statement
criticizing lawmakers for not increasing SNAP
benefits in the act, saying they "missed an
opportunity to help families facing hunger,
and, unfortunately, food banks will bear the
burden of this oversight."
CLAIRE BABINEAUX-FONTENOT: It's not enough,
though.
But we have made some good progress. Our data
shows us that hole is a lot bigger than the
additional supplemental food that we're going
to be able to rely on from the federal government.
With contracting amount of retail donations,
with a bigger population of people in need,
we're having to go out and purchase more food,
and we're competing in the marketplace in
a scarcity.
STEPHANIE SY: Back at the United Food Bank,
Dave Richins says supplies from the USDA will
help him keep things going at this pace through
August.
DAVE RICHINS: As long as we continue to get
trucks coming to our warehouse and delivering
food, we can continue to get to the public.
There's nothing that's going to stop us from
filling our mission. I will keep serving until
the last can of food is on the shelf at the
food bank.
STEPHANIE SY: His biggest worry isn't keeping
the food supplies coming, but keeping his
own employees and volunteers safe from the
spreading virus.
For the "PBS NewsHour," I'm Stephanie Sy in
Phoenix.
