Last Tuesday started out like any other day at United Food Bank. But within a few hours, a crisis affecting thousands of area people in need began to unfold. 

Staff members discovered a broken compressor in the Food Bank’s freezer. The break compromised over 20,000 pounds of frozen foods — meats, fruits, and vegetables that were scheduled to leave the dock and reach children and families in need across the region.

United Food Bank serves countless partner agencies, churches, schools, and pantries across five counties — and the food bank needs the immediate help of good friends to ensure that no hungry neighbor is turned away. The need is especially urgent since many families remain in immediate need.

“My wife and I are on a fixed income, and her prescriptions cost over $200 a month,” one elderly pantry visitor told us recently. “We couldn’t make ends meet if it weren’t for the pantry … you can’t hardly afford some of the grocery store food no more.”

Gifts of all sizes will help replace the lost food and cover the estimated $10,000 expense to repair the freezer.