The holiday season is one of the busiest times of the year for many charity organizations, including food banks.
And this year, the demand for food is greater than ever because of the recent wildfires burning across the state.
The food bank is doing what it can to help fire victims in Butte County.
Inside the warehouse of the Food Bank of Contra Costa and Solano, workers are moving pallets of food, making room for incoming donations and loading trucks headed out to drop-off spots.
This is the busiest time of year for the food bank, which provides meals to more than 170,000 people in Contra Costa and Solano Counties.
On top of that, the food bank is also coordinating donations of food and money to the fire victims in Butte County.
They estimate that because of the Camp Fire, demand for services has gone up by about 10 percent.
“Food banks are sort of the second line of defense in a disaster,” food bank communications director Lisa Sherrill said.
Sherrill says they have been working closely with food banks across the Bay Area to take make sure fire victims are getting what they need.
“We will be doing weekly distributions in Oroville and Chico,” Sherrill said.
And while they are sending food to Butte County, they are also receiving and distributing financial assistance.
“Most of the partner agencies up in Butte County are at capacity as far as food and water go,” Sherrill said. “So, the funds will help us continue to serve them.”
During the holidays, the food bank receives enough donations to cover about half of their annual budget, and they want to remind donors and potential donors that once the holidays are over and the fires are out, the demand for services will be as great as ever.
“The need is not going to go away once the fires leave their news feeds,” Sherrill said. “We will still need to support people in Northern California as well as Contra Costa Counties.”