More federal employees seeking assistance at food banks


Save Story
Leer en español

Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes

This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.

OGDEN — Many federal workers coming into the food banks have traditionally been the ones to donate canned goods. But with the federal government shutdown entering its fifteenth day, some are on the other side and receiving items for the first time.

The shelves at Joyce Hansen Food Bank in Ogden are stocked, organized and ready for the 100 to 200 people who will come through and fill their carts Tuesday through Friday.

Marcie Valdez, director of Catholic Community Services of Northern Utah, which runs the food bank, began to see a change in its usual clientele about a week and a half ago.

"It's the families who are typically stable, hardworking individuals, who have never asked for help before," she said.

Joyce Hansen is the food bank closest to the Ogden IRS building and Hill Air Force Base. In the last two weeks, it has served 50 families with members working for the federal government.

Many feel humbled by the experience Valedez said, because most have never received assistance. She said her location is also offering referrals to other agencies, especially for counseling.

Though many federal employees don't want to burden their families with their new stresses, receiving assistance is one way they can help their families, Valdez said. The only item they need to have on hand is their federal ID or a pay stub.

"They'll receive a full shopping cart of food. They can pick their own groceries," Valdez said.

Those groceries should last a family about five days.

Food banks like Joyce Hansen are also seeking assistance. About 30 percent of their canned goods come from local communities, and Valdez said some of the items they need most are canned tuna fish, baby food, baby formula and peanut butter.

If you'd like to help, contact Catholic Community Services at 801-977-9119 or visit www.ccsutah.org.

Related stories

Most recent Utah stories

Related topics

UtahPolitics
Devon Dolan

    STAY IN THE KNOW

    Get informative articles and interesting stories delivered to your inbox weekly. Subscribe to the KSL.com Trending 5.
    By subscribing, you acknowledge and agree to KSL.com's Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

    KSL Weather Forecast