Supplies of food are at a critically low level at the Salvation Army Renton Rotary Food Bank – at the same time that demand is growing.

The situation is more dire than in November 2009, when the call for food went out, and the shelves were quickly filled.

And two years ago, the food bank was serving about 800 families a month; that number has grown to about 1,500 a month today, with about 100 new families served every month.

“These are Renton families. They are your neighbors,” Mercedes Pamela Elessa, director of social services and the food bank for the Salvation Army, said Tuesday.

Elessa joined the staff of the Salvation Army in early June, just before Captains Terry and Rutendo Masango left for their new posting in Southern California. Before that, she worked for the YWCA for about 12 years in the organization’s housing program.

The Masangos were replaced by Captains Christopher and Lisa Aird.

The lingering recession and its affect on family budgets, especially if there is a job loss, continues to send families to the food bank and makes it harder for others to donate food and cash, Elessa said.

Worse, the Renton food bank and others in South King County learned in July that King County no longer qualified – the need wasn’t great enough – for federal funding to pay for emergency food and shelter. Tell that to the people lined up for food, she said.

The federal decision was based on 2000 Census figures; but Elessa points out that much has changed in 11 years.

The financial hit is about $46,000 for the Renton food bank, enough to feed about 2,000 individuals for an entire year. That doesn’t take into consideration the potential effect on the Renton Community Supper at the Salvation Army Church, which serves about 1,100 meals each month.

The programs in South King County also are facing cuts of between 25 percent and 40 percent in federal block grants this year, Elessa said.

Now, those dollars must be replaced by donations of cash and food, she said. The money from grants is important because it goes to buy food supplies that are needed but not donated.

“The things that keep you alive and healthy are the most expensive,” she said.

The food bank is also dependent on food drives. To make them a more consistent source of donations, Elessa said Capt. Chris Aird is considering asking community businesses, organizations, agencies and others to adopt a week during which it would hold a food drive.

In making her plea, Elessa held up an empty file folder called “Wall of Opportunity.” She hopes to fill it with 52 weeks of food drives. Two years ago, Terry Masango made a similar plea for donations, referring to the empty shelves as a “wall of shame.”

The shortage comes when the food bank is gearing up for the holiday season, when demand grows even more. Elessa doesn’t want to disappoint those in need during the holidays.

“We need a big push,” she said. It’s hard, she said, to understand the “magnitude of the problem.”

“We really rely on the people of Renton,” she said.

The supply “seemed fine” a couple months ago, she said, but last weekend, food bank supporters began emailing friends and family, encouraging them to donate food and cash and to pass on the word to others.

Because of the shortfall, the food bank has had to reduce somewhat how much food it can give to each family, she said. Front-desk staff also re-direct non-Renton area residents to a food bank closer to their home.

Right now, the food bank needs food of any kind, fresh, frozen, canned or boxed. Typically, meat, fresh produce and dairy products are in short supply. The food bank is part of a program called Grocery Rescue, in which local grocers, include many in Renton, donate food, including fresh dairy products and juice. Grocery Rescue is a program of Food Lifeline.

“I don’t know what we would do without Grocery Rescue and Northwest Harvest,” she said.

HOW TO DONATE

Donors can drop off food at the Salvation Army Renton Rotary Food Bank, 206 S. Tobin St., Renton, 8:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. Monday through Friday at the large door at the end of the driveway. The Salvation Army also accepts cash donations and donations online.