San Antonio food bank head describes 'unprecedented demand': 'We don't feel like we will have enough food'

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San Antonio Food Bank CEO on 'unprecedented' demand amid coronavirus crisis

We won't be able to meet the demand unless we get help, says Eric Cooper, president and CEO of the San Antonio Food Bank.

San Antonio Food Bank President Eric Cooper told "The Story" Friday that he fears his establishment and other food banks across the nation may not be able to handle the demand after millions of people have been cast out of work by restrictions mean to slow the spread of coronavirus.

"Our volunteers have been fantastic, really rallying, in some ways putting themselves at risk," Cooper told host Martha MacCallum. "We operate under the COVID-19 protocols, keeping distance with masks and gloves. Families drive through these pop-up distributions in their cars. 

"But the fatigue that is setting in, it's the amount of work to meet the demand that is causing us to reach out to the Texas National Guard ... to get help because it's a crisis," he added.

Cooper said that his food bank is seeking $12 million in federal funds to purchase more food for the blocks-long lines of needy families who have assembled outside his operation.

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"We don't feel like we will have enough food to meet this unprecedented demand, and those [federal aid] checks that are coming, people are going to have to eat in the meantime," he said. "I think our lines are going to be long for many food banks across the U.S."

However, he said that community organizations and companies in the area are rallying to help keep families fed and afloat.

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"Everyone has been giving to the effort to make sure no one goes hungry. But we want to be able to make this shortfall," Cooper said. "We won't be able to meet the demand if we don't get help. So we are asking at the federal level and the state level for people to help us.

"The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program [SNAP] now, it's our nation's safety net against hunger. But when families aren't working, they don't have any income and so that food supplement doesn't cover their food needs. That's why there's many lines for us at food banks."