When we're done, and then these
folks will be here, right?
Keep going.
The volunteers and such
will be here for.
Yeah, we're open until 6 today.
All right, so
when we're talking and try to
pretend that's not there, just you
and I.
Yep.
Yes.
Can you just pull your hair down
behind me?
Can you just do it?
Thank you.
Yeah, I'm not usually wearing like a
fleece in an interview.
Right? But I said I'm wearing it.
Yeah.
What about mine Cynthia?
Do you need to do that to mine too?
Bye.
Head.
It looks great.
Okay, so with that said,
we're good. Alright.
So it was occurring to me that
this is so kind of
bitter sweet.
It's bitter because the need is
so great, but it's sweet that
you then get to give these
provisions and groceries and
food to the people really in need.
Is that kind of what it's like?
That's a good way to put it.
I was thinking of that same thing
this morning, because again, as
we're happy that we're here and that
people are finding us and they're
trusting us, right, with a
basic need that they need, right?
It's food.
But it is, it's sad.
It's heartbreaking that people are
in this position to come to us.
What is the immediate demand
right now as we
still are in the midst of
the snap funding lapse
or delay?
So for us, it's money.
So we buy things at wholesale.
And so for the community to
give money, but also there's that
tangible thing about giving a
food donation,
handing that over to us, that's
important to us also.
There's meaning behind both of them
for different people.
What has it been like here
in terms of numbers
and demand on people's
part for help with food?
I can't keep up with it, to be
honest.
And there's a fly right there.
But this is edited, though, right?
Well, it is now.
OK, OK, thank you, right.
It is, the numbers are,
it's hard to keep up with them
because they're changing every day.
But we just know that there is an
increase in what we've been seeing
over the last several months.
We're on track to serve over 20,000
unique individuals this year.
And that's up from last year,
about 18,700.
So a lot of people are coming
to us.
There's a lot.
So Kevin told us he
worked, volunteered here for five
years. You've been executive
director for five years.
How does this period of time right
now compare to
prior years?
No comparison.
This is, and
I don't even want to say crazy, but
it is crazy how much need there is
right now.
So as I was looking at numbers again
just from last week serving close
to 5,000 people in a week,
we never thought we'd be able to do
that and never thought that we'd
need to do that.
But we're here for the people that
need us and in this space
we're looking forward to a new space
in the next couple months.
If you look around and look at this
very inefficient space We're
making it happen and we're doing
that through very dedicated
volunteers and a very devoted
staff.
Do you ever have concerns that
this amount of donations
won't come in, won't be?