Auburn Food Bank stays busy before Thanksgiving

Published 10:52 am Wednesday, November 26, 2025

The line outside the Auburn Food Bank, already long before the building opened at 9 a.m. Monday morning, neither slackened nor slowed until shortly before closing time at 1 p.m.

Peering out at the queue from her inner office window just after 11 a.m., Auburn Food Bank Director Debbie Christian estimated that roughly 225 households, ranging from two to nine family members each, would be served that day.

“Our computer system doesn’t give us an exact tally, but 225, up by 35, is about how many we’ve been seeing on a regular basis,” Christian said. “Those numbers are up considerably from what they were before SNAP.”

In other words, before food staff, volunteers and clients alike began fretting given the Trump Administration’s threats to pare Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits in half during the government shutdown. There was concern whether there would be be enough food to feed all the local people and families in need each month.

On Tuesday, Christian, staff and and an estimated 70 volunteers handed out Thanksgiving fixings at the annual giveaway at Holy Family Catholic Church.

“We’ve been doing really well, but of course after Wednesday, everything will be gone, Christian said about the day before Thanksgiving. “Today alone, I’ve spent $35,000 just on food.”

She then thanked local media coverage for getting the word out.

Once out of the cold, clients made their way to the lobby to pass their time — mothers cooing to their babies, men and woman studying cellphones, quietly talking, and in one woman’s case, nursing a bloody knee.

When called forward, clients gave the two women at the counter their names, the number of people in their households, and how many times they’d been served by the food bank during the month.

Then, with that information in hand, they proceeded to volunteer Paul Berry, who checked the information, which told him what they were entitled to from the food bank.

“One pastry, one bread,” Berry said time and again, and directing clients to where they would choose those items, and to the meat in the cooler. He also pushed shopping carts at them, each color-coded by family size: blue for the homeless; orange for two-member households; green for three to six; pink for six to seven; and yellow for nine.

Hank Bauer, who is serving out his community service requirement at the food bank, stocked shelves with bread and pastries nearby.

“If I wasn’t doing this for service, I’d be here volunteering. Keeps me busy. Two Fridays ago, which was my first time doing this, there was a really big line. I asked what their average was, and they said about 100 people.

“I did the cart thing two weeks ago,” Bauer continued, noting that during his first day at the food bank two weeks ago, “about one-third of the people were younger than me, and I’m 27. They kept coming up to me, asking ‘Oh, how’s this work?’ because they were brand new to this. It’s different seeing the people in person, seeing how big the need is.”

Meanwhile, volunteer Joyce Martin helped clients with the bread and pastry.

“I figured, why retire, so I volunteered,” said the Auburn resident, who has also given her hours to Valley Medical Center.

Meanwhile, retiree Becky Prenevost stood her post before the turnips, carrots, spinach and onions and squash, helping with the veggies where help was needed.

“We come in early and stock the shelves, and as they empty out, we fill them back up,” said Prenevost. “Sometimes they have a lot of volunteers and sometimes they don’t. It gives me something to do, and they need workers.”

“It definitely helps, but it took a while to get used to it, because we had to have an address, and we were homeless,” a young woman named Molly said of the food bank, alongside her partner, Aaron.