Food Bank of Monterey County requests funding due to increased demand

MONTEREY COUNTY, Calif. (KION) The Food Bank of Monterey County estimates they'll need $3.4 million dollars for the next 6 months as they face increased demand during the pandemic, but the County Board of Supervisors only authorized $250,000 at Tuesday's Board of Supervisors meeting.

The food bank typically served 3,000 families per month before March 2020, but now they serve 60,000 families per month.

The food bank says they’re grateful to receive the funding because food prices are increasing and not as many donations are coming in. The private non-profit relies primarily on donations to continue to provide services.

With the unprecedented demand for food, the food bank told KION it will be difficult to sustain this level of services longterm without adequate funding.

Thousands of families rely on their food distribution and inventory at the food bank is getting low.

“Just the fact that we went through 6 months worth of inventory in 6 weeks 
let’s you know the alarming level of need,” Food Bank of Monterey County Executive Director Melissa Kendrick said.

More people have a need for food services due to increased unemployment and school closures, which is where students used to get free and reduced-price meals.

The Social Services Department recommended $500,000 to replace the 
diminished inventory. At the meeting, Director of Social Services Lori Medina said the department couldn't support the entire amount to due lack of documentation.

The Board later decided to approved a reduced amount of $250,000, with several members saying they need more information from the food bank.

“Likely, everything is going to where it should be but we need some 
oversight," Supervisor Luis Alejo said at the meeting. "There should be transparency and we should have our questions answered.”

“We want to support the communities need to get food and I think the other thing that this board is very interested in is being able to plan for the future and understand what the future needs are going to be so we can responsibly allocate taxpayer money,” Supervisor Jane Parker said.

They authorized the funds in a 4-1 vote, with Supervisor Mary Adams as the only no vote.

"I'm going to have to vote no, because I'm just fearful that we're cutting them off at the knees. We've already heard that the lead time is an issue for them," Adams said.

The agenda item has created some tensions within the county. Former Director of Social Services Eliot Robinson who is doing analysis on the topic said the Food Bank is not willing to work with him so he could only provide partial analysis, much of the reason why the county is holding off on allocating more funding.

"Working with the food bank to get a sense of that and have a consolidated report would be very valuable. I don't know that I'm the right person to do that in the end, because I think having trusting relationships is important," Robinson said before the board. "I'm happy to advise, but I think what's clear is that the food bank does not personally trust me, and so it would be important to find someone where the food bank does have trust."

But the food bank told KION they’ve provided the county with numbers and are being transparent.

“We are the only food bank in the county and we are the only emergency food resource. Transparency, responsible stewardship and accountability are central to our mission to end hunger and a demonstration to commitment to the community," Kendrick said.

With tensions at the board meeting clear Tuesday, Supervisor Adams said it's time for a reset.

“I think that we need to set a reset button here because what I don’t want 
to see happen is, in the midst of whatever disagreement is in existence, that 
the people who need to be fed are not fed,” Adams said.

At the meeting, Medina said she estimates the need for food during the COVID-19 pandemic will be even greater six to 12 months from now, when funding programs are scaled back.

As for future funding, Supervisor Chris Lopez said he hopes a larger plan can be created once more information is provided by the food bank and it will come back to the board at that point.

To view the full Social Services Department report, click here: http://monterey.legistar.com/gateway.aspx?M=F&ID=c2f66c15-ade2-4b33-9db4-00f99b572d09.pdf