Attendance at food banks has drastically increased since the COVID-19 pandemic has caused people to lose jobs. Food banks in Sarasota County are struggling to keep up with the increased demand.

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As the coronavirus pandemic wreaks havoc, more people are relying on food banks. But food banks in Sarasota and North Port are now running out of food due to the increase in demand.

Second Chance-Last Opportunity, a nonprofit in Newtown, fed over 100 people on Wednesday before running out of food. As of Friday, SCLO was out of every item, including its emergency supplies.

April Glasco, CEO and founder of SCLO in 1995, said she is seeing people coming in for help whom she has never seen before.

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“This is a crisis situation,” Glasco said. “There’s quite a few people living in the unknown.”

Sherika Ward, a volunteer at SCLO, said the situation brought tears to her eyes on Wednesday when she saw a young mother overjoyed when she was able to get baby clothes from the nonprofit.

“It’s not just people in Newtown,” Glasco said. “They’re coming from everywhere, walking and riding bicycles to get here.”

To continue to serve people in need, the nonprofit is looking for donations of food, including pop-open cans (ravioli, soup, tuna fish), fresh fruits, rice, chips and cereal. The nonprofit is also in need of supplies like paper towels, toilet paper, diapers, baby formula and baby wipes and clorox.

Many people have to choose between cleaning or eating, Glasco said.

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“People come and see that someone cares for them and see that hope,” Glasco said. “People who are in crisis feel like giving up — they’re scared and don’t know what to do. When they see someone out there helping them, it gives them hope.”

In North Port, at the New Hope Community Church Food Pantry, the amount of people in need has more than doubled.

In an average month last year, the food pantry served over 7,500 household members. The current demand is on track to serve over 11,000 household members in a month.

The increase in attendance has caused a financial strain on the pantry’s budget. In a partnership with HOPE for North Port Community Development Corporation, the pantry made a goal to raise $10,000 to feed people during the COVID-19 pandemic.

To donate to the New Hope Community Church Food Pantry visit hopefornp.org.

To donate to Second Chance Last Opportunity, contact April Glasco at 941-360-8660 or bring supplies to the food pantry at 1933 Dr. Martin Luther King Way, Sarasota.