自3月中旬以来，由于19日，美国已经裁员了大规模失业，而食品银行正面临着对食物的前所未有的激增。许多当地的食品储藏室，例如以利亚（Elijah）在新泽西州新不伦瑞克省（New Brunswick）的承诺，努力寻求支持并满足其社区需求。
“There is no national Elijah’s office,” Anthony Capece, the Associate Director of Elijah’s Promise, tells Food Tank. “It’s us trying to figure out what we can do for our community, and many other frontline organizations are in the same boat.”
以利亚（Elijah）的诺言在大型新不伦瑞克省和新泽西州中部提供免费餐点。尽管全国贫困率不到12％，但新不伦瑞克省的人口中有36％居住在贫困线上。食品储藏室在养活该地区的居民中起着至关重要的作用。
“We serve everyone living on the fringes of our economy,” Capece tells Food Tank. “And now more than ever, we need to make sure that we have meals and food ready for the community.”
客户的增加迫使以利亚承诺改变组织努力。Capee说，该组织将其资源集中在其厨房服务上，暂时暂停了所有非必需的编程。这包括其劳动力发展，社会进取心和城市农业计划。
为了保护员工和社区，汤厨房减少了小时，现在在有限的地区提供了一顿饭菜，客户拿起两顿热餐。以利亚的诺言旨在每天提供150顿饭，但Capece希望随着社区应对COVID-19的经济影响，需求将四倍。
The rise in demand is met with labor shortages. Capece explains that under normal conditions, Elijah’s Promise has 2,500-3,000 volunteers a year. But, to limit the spread of COVID-19, the organization cancelled its volunteer shifts, leaving just 26 employees to prepare and serve meals. Staff members now work on a rotational basis to keep each other safe.
以利亚的承诺加剧了食物分配的挑战，面临着一个资金问题。自COVID-19爆发开始以来，由于对公众聚会的健康问题，该组织突然取消了其最大的筹款活动。Capece表示，年度厨师的夜间筹款活动将产生约100,000美元至125,000美元的$ 125,000来支持其烹饪学校。由于经济健康状况的减少，Capece并不期望个人在财务上持续维持该组织的贡献。
“We are in crisis fundraising mode, anticipating that people have a lot less money to give,” says Capece.
For now, however, Elijah’s Promise’s food supply remains uncompromised. The food pantry built a two-week reserve of frozen food in the case of a food shortage, and it continues to restock food through supermarkets and food wholesalers. Local organizations such as Local 130 Seafood and The Food Architects are also offering their help.
Capece说：“我们正在收到当地餐馆和餐饮服务商的支持，这些餐馆和餐饮服务商试图摆脱库存中的食物。”
即使是在不确定性的情况下，Capece也强调了在大流行期间和之后支持以利亚的诺言和其他当地食品储藏室的必要性。他鼓励人们向基层组织捐款，以确保他们可以继续支持社区。
Capece说：“我只能想象这种困惑以及对于努力思考第二天在哪里找到食物的人们可能会多么困难。”“我们将不得不继续满足这一需求。”
Photo courtesy of the U.S. Department of Agriculture
