With the cost of everyday essentials going up, it’s pushing some families who were on the cusp of needing help to go to the food bank.

The Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina works with about 800 partner agencies that serve 34 counties in North Carolina.

Jennifer Caslin, who works with the Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina, says their partner agencies are seeing anywhere from a 39% to 42% increase in the amount of people who are coming to get food from them.

“The higher prices in general – gas, food – are really making their budgets stretch even more. I think there are a lot of people still recovering from the pandemic and it seems like every time something happens, it’s one more setback unfortunately,” Caslin said.

Caslin says the food bank feels the same pinch as people turning to them for help.