KANSAS CITY, MO — The 41 Action News Digital Day of Giving on Monday raised $70,320 for the Harvesters Community Food Network, prompting an appreciative "wow" from Director of Communications Sarah Biles.
"It means a lot because, for every dollar donated, we can provide free meals," she said." So, if we have $70,000, that's over 200,000 meals that we now can provide to the community, to families and seniors and children who need that food to grow and thrive."
Since COVID-19, thousands of people who can't afford to buy food have been lining up at area food pantries and Harvesters is often behind the scenes distributing the food into the community.
"Since the middle of March, we've distributed over 16 million pounds of food, 4 million pounds more than normal," Biles said. "You can see what the need is, and it's still very high."
People receiving the help are genuinely grateful.
Biles said Harvesters is genuinely grateful for the $70,000 donation, which included $12,000 from the Scripps Howard Foundation, as well, but she said still more help will be needed.
"We expect the need to be high for several months," Biles said. "Even though some people now are getting back to their jobs, they may not be getting back to full-time and have the hours that they had before, so we anticipate that it's going to take many months for people to get back on their feet."
If you missed the 41 Action News Digital Day of Giving for Harvesters, you can donate anytime on the food bank's website.