"In the week leading up to Christmas, local nonprofits made a final push to bring food, toys and holiday baskets to those in need over the holiday.
On the Thursday before Christmas, about 40 people stood in line holding empty boxes and grocery bags at the Pitkin County Health and Human Services building waiting to collect goods provided by the Food Bank of the Rockies.
In the next room, boxes and cans of food were piled up next to each other along a row of tables. The line began with a large box of raw meat, mostly chicken, due to its inexpensive cost and high protein content. In the center sat a group of canned and boxed food ranging from tuna helper to value packs of instant hot cocoa. There also was a pyramid made of diapers, and the line ended with a large box containing an assortment of pre-made sheet cakes and other baked goods next to a box of sodas.
Some adults waiting in line brought their children to carry extra bags; others were elderly and had younger companions to help schlepp their loads. But most were alone, standing silently with grim faces waiting their turn.
The first person in line was an elderly woman who didn’t speak English. She had waited 40 minutes for first pick, according to her younger companion who identified himself as Osvaldo. Osvaldo came to help the elderly woman because she didn’t own a car.
“It’s really good help for our family,” said Osvaldo.
Behind the pair was another woman with a cane who said it was the first time she has needed to resort to receiving handouts.
“I wouldn’t have done it this time,” she said. “But I needed food.”
One woman, further down the line, had driven from Rifle for the food. It was the second time she had been to the food bank, and although she is employed, she is supporting her two adult children who are unemployed and living at home with her, making her financial situation tight, she said.
Another older man worked in construction for years in Aspen but he has been unemployed for the past three months and can’t find a job, despite constantly looking, he said. The food bank is how he has survived unemployment, he said.
About a week before the recent Aspen distribution, the food bank in El Jebel ran out of food in 20 minutes when it should have lasted two hours, organizers said. People stood crying when they saw all the food was gone, according to numerous reports....."
(Dorothy Atkins)
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