Lines stretched out the door and wrapped around the corner of Anchorage’s Mountain View Community Center on Monday as hundreds of people gathered to pick up a free Thanksgiving dinner, including all the fixings.
“From the turkey, the pan, the butter, the bread, all the way down to the sides,” said site manager Paula Green.
The community center was one of several distribution sites for the Food Bank of Alaska’s annual Thanksgiving Blessing event, which provides thousands of meals to people in Anchorage and the Mat-Su Borough. Green said the demand on Monday was high and the energy was electric.
“We've had people waiting outside for probably about an hour, maybe hour and a half or two before the doors open,” she said. “So there is a need, and people, the workers and volunteers, are excited to be here to help the community.”
Green said her site could serve about 2,000 residents and offered two ways to pick up a meal.
“We have people that are doing what's called a personal shopping so they have an option to choose whether they want the green beans, or if they want the corn, or maybe they just want one can, maybe they won't want the turkey,” Green said. “So they get an option to choose what actually goes home with them. We have another model that's a pre-made box.”
Though Thanksgiving Blessing happens every year, Food Bank officials say this holiday season has been a particularly fraught time for people struggling to stay fed.
Food Bank of Alaska CEO Cara Durr said food banks nationwide have seen an increase in demand since the pandemic, and the trend continues today.
“Coming out of the pandemic, you know, we saw a lot of inflation, and so just the rising costs really drove additional people to food pantries just to help make ends meet,” Durr said. “And that's really, it's really just remained elevated.”
This year, Durr said several things have increased that demand by about 15 percent in Alaska. The first was Typhoon Halong, which led to the Food Bank directing a lot of assistance to evacuees, and then the federal government shutdown sent a lot of federal workers to food pantries.
“And then, as we got closer to November and the loss of the SNAP benefits, we saw some big increases,” Durr said. “So, you know, I think 65% of our partners have seen an increase month to month, and all the rest have seen just it steady. But I think that's notable in a time where we're usually seeing less demand because of the Permanent Fund dividend.”
Durr said food banks provide about one meal for every nine provided by SNAP, and the delay in receiving those benefits was noticeable.
“Anytime the program is cut even by a small amount or there are delays, we see it firsthand at our food pantries, more people coming looking for those resources there,” Durr said.
And while those benefits have been restored, Durr said Food Bank personnel are anticipating a rise in need coming into the new year.
“We had H.R.1, the Big, Beautiful Bill, pass this summer, and that had a lot of harmful cuts to SNAP in it,” Durr said. “So, you know, that's always concerning from a food bank’s perspective, anytime you think people are going to be cut off of food assistance.”
As federal support has dropped for food programs, Durr said she’s seen a sharp rise in donations from community members, as well as a $2 million grant from the state.
“This year, for the first time, we actually ran out of our food drive barrels, because so many people were doing food drives, which is a good problem to have,” Durr said. “And, you know, we were able to order more. But that's been really heartening to see the community just respond to these disasters with such care.”
Back at the Thanksgiving Blessing in Mountain View, Malani Conroe was in line to receive a pre-made box with a turkey and all the sides. She said she’s grateful for the chance to get the full dinner for free.
“It's awesome because turkeys and everything is so expensive these days,” Conroe said. “I mean, to walk into Carrs and buy this dinner, it probably cost $300, and I don't have $300.”
Conroe said she works early on Thanksgiving, starting her shift at 4:15 a.m. But she and her guests will have this meal to look forward to afterward — thanks to the Food Bank.
