The following is sponsored content from Food Bank of Wyoming.
While the government is reopening, uncertainty remains for tens of thousands of Wyomingites who live with food insecurity. Due to the broad media coverage of SNAP benefits being paused, communities across the country have become more acutely aware of just how close to home hunger is. Here in Wyoming, one out of every seven residents and one out of every five kids is food insecure. Chances are that each of us knows someone facing hunger.
Food Bank of Wyoming has a long history of sourcing food in bulk and quickly getting it out to Wyoming residents facing hunger through a network of 150+ Hunger Relief Partners as well as mobile pantries statewide. With the current hunger crisis stemming from the government shutdown, the Food Bank ramped up the amount of food it is sourcing and distributing, made possible thanks to donor support and emergency funds from the state.
However, even before this crisis, hunger rates were at more than a 10-year high in Wyoming. There are myriad reasons why, but what we commonly hear from neighbors is that the cost of food, housing, and other bills keep going up while salaries remain flat, and they cannot keep up. Our neighbors are being forced to eat fewer meals, eat less food, and eat lower quality food to get by.
One neighbor, Elliott, attended a Food Bank of Wyoming pop-up mobile pantry hosted at the University of Wyoming in Laramie last month. There, the Navy veteran shared part of his story with us, including how the food he receives from Food Bank of Wyoming helps him and his wife stay afloat during hard times.
“It was a really rough winter and has been a rough year. The wife and I are on food stamps and it’s been hard. It’s good that stuff like this comes along for folks that need it. I’d like to see us get out of needing help like this in the near future, but we’ll see. For now it helps a ton. We’ve cut back to two meals a day so that the food stamps pretty much get us to the end of the month, but not always.”
Another neighbor, Michelle, was in line at a Food Bank of Wyoming Mobile Pantry in Worland. At home, Michelle and her husband are caretakers for five kids, ranging in age from 2 to 17 years old. They became legal guardians of two of the kids, taking them in after the kids were found to be living in conditions with very little food and no running water. The 2-year-old has a heart condition and has undergone surgery, so Michelle is a stay-at-home mom.
“This food helps in an immense amount of ways,” Michelle said. “Whatever we don’t eat, we share with anyone we know who needs it.”
Food Bank of Wyoming is here for residents whether a crisis on a large scale occurs or a crisis happens to individual families. You can help make a difference for our neighbors by volunteering or making a financial contribution today.
