Over the last year, the need for food assistance and other forms of help have increased in Loveland, and local service groups have given advice and tips on how residents can help as the holiday season approaches.

Both the Food Bank for Larimer County and House of Neighborly Service saw increases in needs for service over the last year, according to officials from both organizations, and have offered ways for the community to help.

Food Bank for Larimer County increase

Amy Pezzani, CEO of the Food Bank, said that in the first 10 months of the year the organization saw a 32% increase in the number of clients served through its food share market. Pezzani said most of that increase did not start until March 2023, when the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP,  emergency allocations came to an end.

She said that additional money allocated about $90 per person for a family, meaning a family of four would lose about $360 a month.

“You can’t just make up $360,” she said. “So then we saw an increase and that increase has just continued.”

But this need stretches beyond just those coming to get food from the Food Bank. Pezzani said it also serves 120 other nonprofits around Larimer County who also work to feed those in need.

She added that while the Food Bank is still taking in a great deal of food donations, they are working to maintain important funding to adequately serve all those in need. She said the Food Bank has been able to continue to provide the same amount of food to those who need it after the state distributed $4 million in emergency funding to 245 food pantries across Colorado over the early summer.

Pezzani said the Food Bank is also working with similar organizations across the state to ensure they can continue to provide food for those in need, adding it has been proven many times that the impact of quality food for everyone is important.

“The value of providing not just food but nutritional food to our community cannot be understated,” she said.

House of Neighborly Service increase

Like the Food Bank, House of Neighborly Service has seen a significant increase in the number of people using its offered resources.

Cheryl Wong, assistant director of the nonprofit, said it has seen a 24% increase since last year.

“We definitely have seen an increase,” she said. “We haven’t had a slow period this year.”

Wong said this has also caused an increased need for volunteers and staff. She said one volunteer who typically only comes in once a week is coming in daily and the food pantry has had to add two staff members to handle the load.

“They literally could not keep up with going and picking up food and different pieces,” she said.

She also said HNS has seen a slight dip in donations, noting that the community at large has seen impacts of growing prices at the grocery store.

Cherri Houle, executive director of HNS, said the work that the organization does is important for the growing Loveland community, as many newcomers may not have built up a community to help them.

“Having (HNS) is like a community place they can come,” she said. “We care, we listen, our case workers will connect you to the right resources. And bottom line they are going to give you something when you leave. They are going to give you food. They are going to give you clothes. They are going to give you utility resources. They are going to give you hope.”

How residents can help

To continue handling the needs of the public, both the Food Bank and HNS have held or will be holding food drives as the holiday season approaches to make sure there is enough food to go around.

This includes the Tour de Turkey, which the Food Bank held Thursday in both Loveland and Fort Collins, encouraging residents to donate frozen turkeys, hams and chickens for the group to distribute to “its Larimer County neighbors,” according to a release on the event.

Kelsey Hammon, communications coordinator at the Food Bank, said it had met the goal of receiving more than 4,600 turkeys as of Friday afternoon.

“We are tremendously grateful to our community for their support,” she said in an email to the Reporter-Herald. “It’s thanks to their effort that we’ll be able to provide food that will bring so many families together this Thanksgiving.”

Hammon said turkeys will be accepted on Monday as well at the Food Bank’s Fresh Food Share locations in Loveland, 2600 N. Lincoln Ave., and Fort Collins, 1301 Blue Spruce Drive; these locations will be open from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday. She added the Food Bank office at 5706 Wright Drive in Loveland will be open 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday  if people want to bring donations there.

Pezzani said this event is the biggest they do when it comes to asking for donations. She added that with turkeys the Food Bank serves as a central hub and distributes them to the various nonprofits they work with, and when the community responds to the call for donations it means a lot to more than just the Food Bank.

“When we can serve as the central hub for those community donations, it is our entire community at large that benefits,” she said.

Similarly, HNS is planning to hold several food drives heading into December, including one at 10 a.m. to noon Dec. 9.

Wong said while many in the community have held their own drives to help HNS, the staff knew they needed a little bit more to ensure they have enough food for the holiday season.

“We are really hoping this will help get us through the Thanksgiving holiday and ready for December,” she said.

Outside of events like this, both Pezzani and Wong said donations are a great way to help out the Food Bank and HNS, be that financial or in food.

Wong added that residents can donate clothing items to HNS, especially winter items as the temperatures continue to drop as winter approaches.

“(This) is very important this time of year,” Houle said of the importance of donations to HNS. “We are going through tons of food and we are going through sometimes up to 1,000 articles of clothing a day.”

Pezzani said those questioning if their help is needed should recognize that the Food Bank impacts a vast array of people — many who are working hard but still need some help and others who can’t work.

“These are really folks who are doing all the things they are supposed to and are still struggling in the economy we have,” she said.

But, Wong said, groups like these can’t do the work alone.

“We love and appreciate our community so much,” she said. “This time of year is so wonderful because so many people rise to the occasion. But there are a lot of new people in the community and they need to know ways they can make an impact … where they live. And we need them. We need the community.”