▶ Over 300, 000 pounds of food distributed to shoreline during pandemic.

Officials say more than 1 in 10 Connecticut residents — or about 545,000 people — are now considered food insecure.

“That’s a staggeringly high number,” said Jason Jakubowski, president and chief executive officer of Connecticut Food Bank and Food Share. “We also know that food insecurity has increased 32 percent since the pandemic began.”

Jakubowski said the state has never seen such a large influx in a short period of time — and he said it’s a problem throughout Connecticut.

“It’s not as if this is just an urban problem, or just a rural problem.” Jakubowski said. “We have seen increases in major cities. We have seen increases in very small, rural towns. We’ve seen increases in even the most affluent suburbs. There is not one town that we have not served since the beginning of the pandemic.”

In the shoreline area, Jakubowski said organizations connected with the Connecticut Food Bank and Food Share serve about 3,700 clients per month. In the last year, he said, more than 370,000 pounds of food has been distributed in shoreline communities.

“In that area, there are certainly pockets of affluence, but there are also pockets of poverty,” he said. “I think that’s a thing that we forget about sometimes.”

As Connecticut passes the one-year mark of the COVID pandemic, in which many people lost their jobs, food kitchens across the state work to address food insecurity.

The Shoreline Soup Kitchens & Pantries assist 11 communities, including Old Saybrook, Westbrook, Clinton, Old Lyme, East Lyme, Centerbrook, Essex, Deep River and Chester.

Amy Hollis, executive director of SSKP, said 30 percent of their coverage area qualified as “asset limited, income constrained, employed” — a description that had been used for the working poor.

“Thirty percent is a high number,” she said. “That was before the pandemic hit.”

A few weeks into the pandemic, Hollis said, SSKP saw more than double the attendance at its meal sites and pantries.

“Every week is a new story in the life of each person, each family,” she said. “We continue to see high numbers. They are not as high as they were in the middle of the pandemic. But we don’t know why.”

‘Everyone is welcome’

Hollis said SSKP food pantries have shifted to an outdoor model because of the pandemic. Prior to COVID-19, the pantries were indoors and clients could come inside and pick what they wanted off shelves.

The need remains high, Hollis said, and the organization still provides approximately 30,000 pounds of food every week.

Hollis said some people struggle with the thought of needing the food pantry. She said the SSKP and other food banks try to break down those stigmas so anyone who needs food will come.

“We are seeing first-time guests, who have never been to a pantry before,” she said. “We try to make it easy for those individuals to come, and greet everyone with dignity and respect. Letting them know that they are welcome to come and receive food.”

The organization has food pantries in Old Saybrook, Westbrook, Clinton, Old Lyme and East

Lyme. It has meal sites in Centerbrook, Essex, Deep River, Chester, Old Saybrook, Clinton, Old Lyme and Westbrook.

Hollis said everyone is welcome at the meal sites, explaining there is no paperwork or proof of residency required. She said pantry sites do require registry.

“Everyone is welcome to go to a site once a week,” she said. “If they can’t come to one site, they can go to another site. They are able to receive food once per week. Some pantries across the country only offer food for their guests once a month.”

Hollis said the paperwork is also required for the pantries because some of the food comes via state and federal programs. She said the supply of food has fluctuated throughout the year, noting the field faced a lot of the same challenges as other industries early in the pandemic.

“We still found ways to make sure there was a variety of food available,” she said. “We receive food from the food bank system. We also receive food that is dropped off directly to our pantries through food drives. We also have a portion that we purchase.”

Hollis said the SSKP is overwhelmed with the support from the communities it serves. Whether people donate their time, money or supplies, she said it feels like it’s “all hands on deck.”

“It has been amazing,” she said. “The generosity, the support from the community, from neighbors, from social-civic groups, from towns, from faith communities, from businesses, from children, from adults.”

Statewide food insecurity

Jakubowski said food insecurity, or the state of being without reliable access to a sufficient quantity of affordable, nutritious food, has been on the rise for several years. He said it comes after several years of difficult economic times, particularly for the middle class.

“The United Way talks about the ALICE population,” he said. “Those who are working, but still fall below the poverty line. This has been a particularly difficult time for those families.”

After a year of the pandemic, Jakubowski said, even people in high-paying jobs have found themselves out of work.

“That is why we’ve seen such a sharp increase during this particular pandemic,” he said. “We’ve definitely ramped up our efforts significantly.”

In many ways, Jakubowski said, that led food banks and non-profits serving that population to reinvent their operations. That includes emergency drive-thru food distribution centers and increasing the size and numbers of the facilities.

“We’ve never done those types of drive-thru distributions before — where you pop your trunk and somebody puts food in your trunk and then you drive away,” he said. “That’s something that’s completely new, just as a result of this particular pandemic.”

Along with the increase in need, he said, the Connecticut Food Bank and Food Share has also seen a surge in donations.

“I’ve always said that we are absolutely fortunate to live in the state of Connecticut, because residents of the state of Connecticut are very generous and are very supportive of the work that we do,” he said. “What the good news is, is we have never raised more money. The bad news, of course, is that we have never spent more money.”

Jakubowski said the organization has needed to hire temporary staff and purchase more items because the food industry has not donated to the same degree.

In the early days of the pandemic, Jakubowski said, the organization came close to running out of food a few times. Now, between food donations, purchases and supplies from the federal government, he said, the organization has a “healthy supply.”

“Even after the virus itself has been solved, we’re probably looking at a 12- to 18-month lag on the economic impact,” he said. “We’re going to be doing this for a while. We know that. But that’s our job. It’s why we are here.”

People can donate to The Shoreline Soup Kitchens & Pantries via an option on its website. Checks can also sent to SSKP, P.O. Box 804, Essex, CT 06426. Donations can be made