CAP food bank’s turkey supply will be arriving late

Community Action Partnership relies on a large donor each year for the necessary number of turkeys for the Thanksgiving holiday distribution.

But this year, the influx of turkeys won’t come until the day after Thanksgiving.

Community Action Partnership at 133 New Sixth St. in downtown Lewiston, one block off Main Street, has 300 to 400 turkeys this year, and Foodbank Program Manager Steve Small expects that supply to run out sometime today.

Distribution began Monday and continues until they run out of turkeys. The CAP food bank normally distributed 800 to 900 turkeys each year for Thanksgiving.

“Our donor was able to buy the same number, but won’t be able to get them until the day after Thanksgiving,” Small said. “So I have been scrounging around, calling everyone.”

Pacific Empire Radio held a Hanging with Turkeys promotion and CenturyLink donated a large number of turkeys to CAP’s food bank, Small said. Rogers Motors and Z-Rock radio also donated a number of turkeys.

“We’ve got about 300 turkeys and we’re going to run out of turkey,” Small said. “We’re going to have plenty of turkeys, just after Thanksgiving.”

The downtown food bank is open this week through Wednesday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., but it will be closed Thursday and Friday.

This spring, because of the pandemic and all the difficulties in food distribution supply chains, Small ordered a truckload of turkey breasts from the USDA’s emergency food assistance program TEFAP. Those turkey breasts were supposed to arrive no later than Nov. 15, but the shipment is lost, Small said.

“Our plan A fell through, our plan B fell through,” Small said. “We got another plan A and B, and they fell through, too.”

Other food banks in the area are not experiencing the same shortage of holiday turkeys that CAP’s food bank is experiencing, but the Idaho Foodbank, located 3331 10th St., next to Rosauers, can always use more donations of cereal, peanut butter, canned meats and canned fruits, North Central Idaho Foodbank Branch Manager Mike Wigen said.

“I kind of understand there’s added pressures going around and not a lot of turkeys are being donated to local food banks,” Wigen said. “The general public is also under a lot of stress.”

People can donate to the Idaho Food Bank by dropping donations off at the front door during normal business hours. After hours, food donations can be left on the back dock.

“For people in need, this is the hardest time of the year,” Wigen said. “There’s more stress this time of year and it comes at you from all angles.”

The pandemic has proved a challenge as the food bank in the Lewiston Orchards has not been able to get out and communicate with its business donors and individual donors, Wigen said.

The Idaho Food Bank upped its distribution by 30 percent this year because of the pandemic, but it is now distributing 45 percent more than before the pandemic began, he said.

“There are more people out there that need help,” Wigen said. “The generosity has gone up and funding has been above normal.”

The biggest challenge because of the pandemic has been the break in logistics, Wigen said.

“Maybe that’s why we’re feeling we can’t get the food that we need,” Wigen said. “Distribution channels, transportation channels, we’re having the most difficulty with the avenues to get the food out.”

At the Asotin County Food Bank at 1546 Maple St. in Clarkston, donors have been generous and the facility has been able to distribute holiday food to everyone who has sought its help, Director Joanne Huntley said.

About 285 people have already come to the food bank in Clarkston recently, and Huntley expects another 150 before the month ends.

The number of people seeking assistance at the Clarkston food bank was down for the first part of the final quarter of 2020 compared to the final quarter of 2019, but traffic is picking up, she said.

“We are in good shape, as far as food goes,” Huntley said.

The food bank accepts donations from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday. Its normal hours are 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monetary donations can be delivered in person or through the mail, Huntley said.

Wells may be contacted at mwells@lmtribune.com or (208) 848-2275.