North Valley Food Bank in urgent need of hams and other holiday food

North Valley Food Bank is seeking help from the community to provide the fixings for free Christmas dinners for neighbors in need.

With rising food and fuel prices, and further economic uncertainty spurred by the latest Covid variant, the food bank anticipates it will be another challenging holiday season for many community members.

This last month 124,460 pounds of food passed through the North Valley Food Bank facility, which is 37,000 pounds more than their monthly average for 2020. In addition, the food bank recently served more than 800 individuals in a single week — the highest number of customers in its 45-year history.

“We are deeply grateful for everyone who has already given abundantly this holiday season,” Executive Director Sophie Albert said. “We’re reaching out once again so that all of our neighbors have a full and festive plate this Christmas. We are especially in need of hams and would like to collect an additional 70 hams by Monday, Dec. 20.”

Nationwide, food banks are facing difficulty securing bulk foods due to supply-chain issues this year. In addition to hams, North Valley Food Bank is seeking donations of butter, crescent rolls, fresh potatoes and yams, olive oil, stuffing, gravy mix, canned corn, cornbread mix, pie filling, boxed pie crust, oats, flour, sugar, canned yams, cinnamon, nutmeg, brown sugar, salt, pepper, dehydrated potatoes and other holiday favorites.

Perishable items must be donated during North Valley Food Bank’s hours of operations, Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Non-perishable items can be donated at any time at the donation station on the front porch. The food bank hopes to receive all holiday donations by Monday, Dec. 20.