Miami food pantry struggles to cope with soaring demand for services
MIAMI -- Curly's House of Style Food Bank has been a staple for over 20 years now and the group is seeing one of the biggest spikes in requests for help.
Officials say the demand has grown largely because of the end of pandemic-era food programs.
Hundreds of people lined up Tuesday to receive food assistance from the agency.
George Willard, a retired flight attendant, was at the program's office on Tuesday to seek assistance.
"I got some bananas and some beets, which are very healthy," he said, pointing to high food prices that have led him to find ways to supplement his fixed income. "When you retire early you don't get nearly as what I would have gotten in 25 years."
Willard left his career during the pandemic to help take care of his mom who is suffering from Alzheimer's disease,
He told CBS News Miami that he had to wake up early to take three buses down to Curly's, but said it was worth it because he likes the fresh produce.
"I need help," he added.
Alva Salcedo was one of those in line.
"Last month it started cutting back," she said through an interpreter.
Pandemic food assistance benefits were slashed in February, placing a strain on many of those in need, particularly older adults.
It's a problem Lavern Spicer, who runs the food bank, has been seeing rising demand for help over the last two weeks.
"A lot of our seniors receive less than $200 a month income (and) $5 in food stamps," she said. "And they cannot afford to purchase food."
The Urban Institute did a year-over-year comparison, looking at December 2021 to December 2022; the share of adults reporting food insecurity increased from 20% to 24.6%, but food isn't the only thing that is a challenge.
In "January our rent was $2,100 (and) February we renewed the lease now look at the rent," Spicer said, adding that the total rent for the food pantry increased to $3,200.
That does not include the thousands of dollars the group needs to buy food and deliver it.
"Normally we would have pallets of food plus the vegetables," she said.
Support to keep her non-profit has also slowed down, that's why she's making a plea for help, because if the bills keep stacking up, she could get behind in rent, which could mean a closure.
"That's a possibility because if we can't pay our rent, then we can't continue," she said.
And yet, at the same time, the demand continues to grow, with food going quicker than ever before.
"Today they didn't have any protein," Willard said.
Even without any meats, people like Willard say they're grateful, and that's why Spicer hopes those grocery baskets she's able to fill will never run empty.
