For the first time in about eight years, Bread of the Mighty Food Bank does not have enough food to distribute to all of the nonprofit organizations that need it.
Director Anne Voyles said the organization has cookies, crackers and drinks, but none of the essentials.
"We just need the food groups," Voyles said.
HOME Van, which delivers food and toiletries to the local homeless, stops by Bread of the Mighty twice a week to restock.
Arupa Freeman, director of HOME Van, said when she visited the food bank, she noticed that its food supply had decreased.
"Children are going hungry and 80- and 70-year-olds are going hungry," Freeman said.
About this time of year, Voyles said the group makes about 300 Thanksgiving baskets for families who normally wouldn't have a holiday meal.
The box of food would weigh about 25 to 30 pounds and include a turkey, large chicken or ham.
"So far, when somebody calls me and asks to be on the list, I just tell them to pray that we have the food to do it," Voyles said.
The food bank on 325 NW 10th Ave. takes whatever help it can get because it distributes about 2 million pounds of food in a year, she said.
The bank is part of America's Second Harvest, the largest food recovery and rescue organization in the United States.
The food bank serves nonprofit organizations in Alachua and four other counties.
"We're like a little grocery store, but we really have a large warehouse," Voyles said.
It collects food from individuals as well as places such as Publix.
Publix pulls food off the shelves, and Bread of the Mighty buys items from the store at a small cost.
The food bank then goes through the food to make sure it is safe for consumption.
"All these years, we've never had a problem with anybody having food that's not safe to eat," Voyles said.
