SEQUIM — The Sequim Food Bank has launched a new fundraising drive with a goal of ensuring that every local family can enjoy a traditional meal during the upcoming holiday season.
Food Bank Executive Director Mark Ozias said the bank hopes to raise $76,500 to provide 1,700 holiday meals.
Ozias said the need for community assistance is even more urgent this year, with expenditures for food at the bank rising 30 percent in the last year alone.
There are several reasons for a rise, he said, including an increase through the summer of families turning to the bank for assistance.
“The number of families who need our help is staggering,” Ozias said.
He pointed to a recent state Department of Health estimate that found one in 14 families in Clallam County “experiences food insecurity.”
The Sequim Food Bank and its 30-plus volunteers will serve 2,000 families this year, Ozias said.
He added that the rising cost of food is an even bigger issue.
While the bank receives approximately $250,000 annually in donated food from local grocery stores and individuals, the organization must also come up with $180,000 in cash this year to purchase additional groceries.
Of that figure, $76,500 is spent on holiday meals.
Ozias said each meal is put together to provide a family with a full menu of traditional fare, including a turkey, dressing, apples, pumpkin pie and more.
Ozias said 100 percent of the food bank’s funding is raised within the community, with individuals providing the lion’s share.
“That means everything from someone who writes a big check to the one person who puts two one-dollar bills in an envelope every month and donates it anonymously,” he said.
Ozias said there are institutional donors as well, including the Albert Haller Foundation.
The bank is also seeking other sources of assistance.
Ozias said he was pleased to recently learn that the Sequim Food Bank has been accepted as a member in the Northwest Harvest.
Northwest Harvest is a nonprofit food bank distributor operating statewide in Washington, providing food to more than 370 food banks, meal programs and high-need schools.
Sequim Food Bank volunteers picked up the first donation of groceries from Northwest Harvest on Tuesday.
Ozias said he hopes the affiliation with Northwest Harvest will save the Sequim bank as much as $20,000 annually in food purchase costs.
To make a tax-deductible donation to the Sequim Food Bank, mail a check to P.O. Box 1453, Sequim, WA 98382.
For more information, call Ozias at 360-775-6321.
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Reporter Mark St.J. Couhig can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5074, or at mcouhig@peninsuladailynews.com.