Although this harvest was done in Sept, because of the COVID virus it was only our 6th month of the year.
We had 103 people in September, one more than August. It was above the average of 98 for the year.
Food was 1,312 pounds close to the average of 1,322 for the year. There were larger amounts of food available earlier in 2020. From March to September it has ranged from 1,508; 1,733; 1,642; and 1,312 with September being the lowest. With numbers of shoppers close to last month, the dollar value per shopper of $76 in September was lower than the last few months with the larger amounts of food .
Numbers don’t tell the whole story. Cookie Davis reports, “Today we got a really nice load! A cooler of each: ground Beef/steak chicken, hotdogs/ sausages Chicken breast strips. Fish/shrimp.” There was also applesauce, cake mix, Dry milk, corn chips, cereal. “Each family received a box of vegetables.”
Looking back over 5 years over 6 months, 2020 has seen fewer people than in the last 5 years. There have been 592 people compared to 723 and 720 in the preceding 2 years. We don’t know how much of this is COVID related or the availability of supply and/or convenience elsewhere.
What we miss in total people, we make up in value.
As was the case in the last few months, the harvest shines in value. The value per shopper over 6 periods at $6 a pound is $84 in 2020, tied for 2018 for the best value. The same is true for considering the pounds per person – 13.41 pounds in 2020, virtually the same in 2018. The need is obviously there.