LACKAWANNA COUNTY, Pa. — Every year around the holidays, donations to WNEP's Feed a Friend program help area food banks feed thousands of families in Northeastern and Central Pennsylvania.
But since the Coronavirus pandemic began, those food banks have seen more requests and longer lines than they've ever seen in the Fall.
"Since this really hit us in mid-March, the demand for food has been overwhelming and has not really let up," said Lisa Durkin, President & CEO of United Neighborhood Centers of NEPA.
UNC of NEPA helps to run one of the Thanksgiving Feed a Friend food distributions.
Durkin said since the pandemic began, UNC is seeing close to 200 people a day requesting food.
"I think in the beginning, people who didn't have the resources, maybe, to go to the grocery store and spend a couple hundred dollars to stock up because we didn't really know what things were going to look like, they kind of flooded the food pantry in the beginning," Durkin added.
That's why WNEP's Feed a Friend is making an early return in 2020 with a virtual fundraiser.
By visiting this page, you can donate to a food bank in your area.
"I think that we're in a really unique position now. For the first time in many of our lifetimes, what we're facing is a crisis that hit everybody at the same time. People are suffering; people are having a hard time; some are doing better than others. I think the burden is on all of us now to do what we can," Durkin said.
The Feed a Friend Special Edition project will continue throughout the pandemic.