Nonprofits see rise in food insecurity in Augusta area

AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) – Some families are choosing between paying a bill or putting food on their table.

The United States Department of Agriculture says the price for food-at-home was 5% higher in 2023 than in 2022, breaking the 20-year level for food price inflation at 2.5%.

In Augusta, Master’s Table Soup Kitchen is seeing a growing need every passing month. Every day hundreds of people line up for a warm meal outside of the Master’s Table Soup Kitchen.

“The food insecurity, right now, to me, it’s very scary. We are seeing a high in hunger and feeding trays. Then on the opposite end, our donations are very low,” said manager LaDonna Doleman.

As the line grows longer, leaders say yearly totals of trays served are now becoming monthly totals.

“The food prices for eggs and bread now are extreme. So now that you’re going in the grocery store a lot more families are now choosing and picking what is mandatory and what is not,” said Doleman.

In 2018, the soup kitchen served 6,000 trays in a 12-month period.

Within the first month of 2024, Doleman says they served more than 9,000 trays.

“The beginning of this year, we started out with 9,053 trays that we did for the month of January,” said Doleman.

But what they need the most, Doleman said can’t be found at the soup kitchen — it’s in the community

“For 2024, my word is help. We need help. We need those donations. We need those volunteer times,” said Doleman.

A place that forever changes lives just like Barbie Izquierdo.

“My mom was food insecure with myself and my brother. When I had children, unfortunately, I sort of fell into the same thing. When there are spaces like this, where community members can come together and feel that camaraderie, I think it’s something that definitely does help the morale of having to deal with being food insecure,” said Izquierdo.

If you would like to help, you can drop items off at the soup kitchen, donate money, or sign up here to help serve. Doleman says any one of these things will help.

Copyright 2024 WRDW/WAGT. All rights reserved.