A community-wide food drive will be held Saturday, Sept. 12, with drop-off locations in Apex, Holly Springs and Fuquay-Varina. 

Food donations will be distributed to the Fuquay-Varina Emergency Food Pantry, the Holly Springs Food Cupboard and to Western Wake Crisis Ministry in Apex. All financial gifts will go to the Family Recovery Fund set up by Western Wake Crisis Ministry to provide emergency assistance to local individuals in crisis.

The Apex Lions Club has supported Western Wake Crisis Ministry for years. However, with the pandemic and the growing needs, they decided a broader community effort was needed. Other partners in the food drive are Citizens Assisting Police in Apex and Lions Clubs in Holly Springs and Fuquay-Varina.

“Lions are the largest International Service organization in the world. As Lions, we look for ways to help others and make our communities better,” said Horace Johnson, the project organizer from the Apex Lions Club.

Local pantries are seeing the impact of increased food insecurity due to COVID-19. Western Wake Crisis Ministry reports four times the average number of first-time visitors seeking food assistance. The Holly Springs Food Cupboard has seen a 24% increase in total households receiving food from January to August 2020, compared to the same period last year, and three times as many track-out bags being given out to school children.  

Volunteers with the Apex Lions Club help with an August food drive at Western Wake Crisis Ministry.

In addition, Western Wake Crisis Ministry has seen a significant increase in the needs of households seeking financial assistance. The Apex-based nonprofit serves the whole western region including Apex, Holly Springs, Fuquay-Varina and the surrounding rural areas.

“Before Covid-19, we were spending about $6,000 to $8,000 a month on rental and utility assistance, and most households only needed a little help to get them through a difficult time. Now families are coming to us who are behind by thousands of dollars and facing imminent eviction or have already been evicted and are living in a hotel or sleeping in a car,” said Beth Bordeaux, executive director of Western Wake Crisis Ministry. 

“During June, July, and August we spent between $15,000 to $20,000 per month to keep our neighbors safely housed. Each month the needs are increasing.”

Members of the community are asked to drop off shelf stable foods at any of the three collection sites. A truck or pod will be at each site and volunteers will be there to collect the donations. 

Financial contributions can be made via PayPal to Western Wake Crisis Ministry at wwcm.org/donate, by texting the dollar amount to (844) 731-0143, or mailing a check to 1600 Olive Chapel Road, Suite 408, Apex, NC 27502. Go to wwcm.org/familyrecoveryfund for more information.