Grandparents are turning to food banks for assistance this holiday season

More people are turning to food banks and pantries this holiday season, with at least one organization reporting that tens of thousands of families who have never turned to a food pantry are joining lines for assistance. Among them are grandparents who are raising their grandchildren on fixed incomes and who have seen their cost of food, medication, heating, and electricity skyrocket in recent months, The Washington Post reports. But they’re not the only ones struggling: Food banks themselves are trying to figure out how they can feed everyone that comes their way. The challenges of rising food costs, a decline in volunteers, and supply chain hurdles are choking off food relief organizations’ efforts, as has the expiration of federal aid programs that propped up supply during the peak of the pandemic last year. Some food banks’ leaders fear that the heightened demand for emergency food programs will persist for years, leading to some difficult decisions. “We can’t serve everyone based on the resources we have,” one food bank chief executive warned. —Matthew Sedacca