ARLINGTON, Va. — For its annual "Turkey Week," the Arlington Food Assistance Center (AFAC) announced serving a breaking record of more than 4,500 families.
While the organization managed to help so many individuals, the historic number is a reminder of the growing concern of food insecurity across Arlington County.
AFAC CEO Charlie Meng said there’s been a nearly 70% increase in the number of families needing help in the last two years. In 2022, the average weekly count was just under 2,100.
“Last year, we served 183,000 families, and we’re now 17% above that,” Meng told WUSA9. “Last year, we saw an increased of 30%. That was on top of the prior during which we saw a 29.5% increase.”
While the issue isn’t new, the Arlington County Board approved last month a one-time $750,000 fund top APAC on top of the annual budget of $850,000.
The $1.75 million food purchase budget makes up roughly 6% of the center’s budget.
Meng said as demand goes up, the organization is spending a lot more. AFAC went over budget by $1 million last year and by $600,000 the previous year.
Donations helped save them last year, but the majority of food distributed comes from purchases from major wholesale suppliers.
While inflation has been an issue, he said rollback on pandemic-era benefits, rising housing costs and stagnant wages are all factors.
“It’s not only COVID but inflation really bit into our families,” Meng added. “We’re talking about families that don’t get cost of living increases. We’re talking about minimum wage individuals who will take them several years for them to catch up to where they were before the pandemic and before inflation really hit them.”
Domingo Lopez and his mother have been coming to AFAC every Wednesday for nearly two years. He said his mother may be retired but isn’t receiving enough.
“It's very difficult,” Lopez said. “Just food cost itself. Milk, eggs, and even the price of meat have gone up but luckily the Arlington Food Assistance Center provides all that, just the essentials.”
Lines to get into the center have also gotten considerably long, according to volunteers and clients.
Carri O’Harrah is a volunteer for Arlington Neighborhood Village who delivers food to seniors.
“I’ve only been doing this for a couple of years, and I will say the lines get longer for sure because there are so many needy families in the area,” she said. “You’re at least waiting for 30 minutes but definitely an hour if it’s busy.”
According to the Capital Area Food Bank 2024 Hunger Report, prevalence rates for food insecurity in Arlington County are 23%.
To learn more about donating funds, food, or volunteering to further AFAC’s mission, visit afac.org.