KNOXVILLE, Tennessee — Food banks see a rise in demand as Thanksgiving approaches.
"Usually, our busy season starts in October through December. And this year, it started in March" said Elaine Streno, Executive Director Second Harvest Food Bank.
For Second Harvest Food bank of East Tennessee, its been all hands-on deck.
"We have had a big demand; a lot of people need food. And it's been overwhelming"
Food insecurity was problem before the pandemic began.
Since then it's only grown.
"I think the most overwhelming thing for us was, there were so many people that never needed Second Harvest before," Streno said.
With Thanksgiving this week, more people need help with meals than in a normal year around the holidays.
"'I've taken three calls this morning of people who need food, one woman crying because they have nothing for Thanksgiving," Streno said.
Streno and her team are committed to making sure those who need help get it.
With eight pantries across East Tennessee, and the help of the community, they've done just that.
"The generous spirit of this community, giving us funding to help us feed all the people I've talked about this morning," Streno said.
Streno emphasizes that post-pandemic and post-Thanksgiving there will still be a need.
"When we get through this pandemic and we will still be some hungry people that will need their help," she said.