
Food banks across America are warning that they cannot cope with the huge surge in demand caused by mass unemployment during the coronavirus.

With tens of millions of Americans unemployed, cities across the nation are struggling to meet the demand for food as long lines are seen outside nonprofits who are feeding those hardest hit by the coronavirus pandemic.

Food banks from Maine to Washington have warned that donations have plummeted while demand has surged by many multiples etc

Motorists lined up for over a mile for emergency groceries offered Friday at a drive-up site run by a Pittsburgh food bank.

The Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank planned to distribute two boxes of food to each vehicle, enough to make 40 meals.

Cars wait in a line during a drive thru food distribution by the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank at the parking lot of the Forum in Inglewood, California, on Friday

Boxes of food are distributed by the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank at a drive thru distribution near PPG Arena in downtown Pittsburgh on Friday

Senator Martha McSally, a Republican from Arizona, packs food boxes at St. Mary's Food Bank in Phoenix on Friday

A man picks up a bag full of food at the St. Joseph House Catholic Worker soup kitchen in the East Village of Manhattan on Friday

The food bank said it could offer help to 1,300 people at the three-hour event at PPG Paints Arena.

Aerial footage from KDKA-TV showed a long line of cars stretching over a mile. Long lines have been routine at emergency food giveaways held across the region in recent weeks.

Many people are seeking help for the first time, Charlese McKinney, a director at the Great Pittsburgh Community Food Bank, told KDKA, calling the need troubling.

'They had jobs, they were able to care for their families, but their hours have been reduced or their jobs have been furloughed for a time being,' McKinney said.

Volunteers load fruits and meat into the trunk of vehicles during a drive-thru food distribution by the LA Regional Food Bank at the parking lot of the Forum in Inglewood on Friday

The image above shows a long line of cars waiting outside the Forum. Cars lined up as early as 8am local time on Friday

Food is waiting to be loaded into the trunk of vehicles during a drive thru food distribution in Inglewood, California, on Friday

A driver wearing a mask looks on as a union member loads food into the trunk of her vehicle during the drive thru distribution

Union members load food into the trunk of a vehicle during the distribution in Inglewood, California, on Friday

The Los Angeles Regional Food Bank held a similar drive thru at a distribution center in Van Nuys, California, on Thursday

Friday's event was co-sponsored by the Pittsburgh Penguins and Pittsburgh Police Department.

In New York City, people were seen standing outside a soup kitchen run by a church in the East Village of Manhattan.

In The Bronx, a long line of shoppers was seen outside a supermarket – a common sight given the social distancing guidelines being put in place to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

In normal times, the Food Bank for New York usually supplies about 1,000 food pantries, soup kitchens, and other institutions with groceries to help feed the needy.

But a coronavirus outbreak has forced 40 per cent of these institutions to suspend operations, which means the Food Bank needs to find another way to get food to hungry New Yorkers, according to The New York Times.

So the food bank has set up 'pop-up' distribution sites at 15 New York City Housing Authority locations.

In Inglewood, the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank expects to hand out food to as many as 5,000 families on Friday.

Hundreds of cars were seen lining the streets around the Forum by 8am on Friday, according to KTLA-TV.

Drivers were told to stay in the vehicles while workers loaded groceries into the trunks of their cars.

Boxes of food are distributed by the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank at a drive thru distribution near PPG Arena in downtown Pittsburgh on Friday

The locals in Pittsburgh braved unseasonably chilly weather to load boxes of groceries into the trunks of cars in downtown on Friday

A pop-up food pantry in Southern California on Thursday drew so many people that the line of cars waiting for free groceries stretched about a mile, a haunting sign of how the coronavirus pandemic has hurt the working poor.

Hundreds of other people, many wearing trash bags to shelter from the rain, arrived at the one-day grocery giveaway on foot, forming a blocks-long queue in Van Nuys, in the central San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles.

Organizers said they had enough groceries to hand out to more than 2,500 families, with each receiving a 36-pound box of rice, lentils and other staples as well as frozen chicken, oranges and other foods.

'I have six kids and it's difficult to eat. My husband was working in construction but now we can't pay the rent,' said Juana Gomez, 50, of North Hollywood, as she waited for her turn.

The COVID-19 pandemic has shut down nonessential businesses across the United States, with more than 90 per cent of Americans under some kind of stay-at-home order, depriving millions of a paycheck.

The northeast part of Los Angeles, home to many working poor Latino families, has been especially hard hit.

LA Regional Food Bank supplied the food donated outside Van Nuys City Hall.

Its president, Michael Flood, said such giveaways were becoming an increasingly important way to help feed people in need, with 'one or two a day' being held in different locations in Los Angeles County.

Thursday's food giveaway - coordinated by Los Angeles City Council President Nury Martinez in partnership with the Los Angeles Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO, the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank and Labor Community Services - was open to anyone in need.

'This food saves me money because my little income goes to my rent,' said Daniel Jimenez, 40, an independent contractor for golf tournaments whose young children joined him to pick up food.

'I haven't been working for three weeks. I have a little money saved but I'm paying rent, gas, and cellphone bills. I don't even know when we're going back to work,' he said.

As he spoke, volunteers shouted constant reminders to those who walked up to maintain social distancing.

'For a lot of people, they are new to the situation of needing help and not knowing where to turn,' Flood said, noting many people were now suddenly filing for unemployment and government food assistance programs.

'But that may take some time for them to get those benefits. We want to do what we can to get food in the hands of families, just so they can eat,' he said.

People line up in their vehicles for an emergency drive-through food and toilet paper distribution hosted by the San Diego Food Bank near the U.S.-Mexico border on Friday

A long line of cars waits in a virtual standstill as the rain comes down in Chula Vista, California, on Friday

Food banks have seen a surge in demand as millions of Americans were laid off from their jobs due to the coronavirus pandemic

A single family-sized portion of donated food is seen at an emergency drive-through food and toilet paper distribution hosted by the San Diego Food Bank at Southwestern College near the US-Mexico border

A woman receives donated food in her vehicle during an emergency drive-through food and toilet paper distribution hosted by the San Diego Food Bank on Friday

People line up in their vehicles for an emergency drive-through food and toilet paper distribution in Chula Vista California, on Friday

San Diego Food Bank volunteers wore rain-proof jackets and face-coverings while loading food into the trunks of vehicles on Friday

Stores have seen a shortage of toilet paper as Americans have stocked up on the product during the coronavirus lockdown

Volunteer Azhar Alamarei distributes food during an emergency drive-through food and toilet paper distribution in Chula Vista, California, on Friday

A San Diego Food Bank volunteer tosses toilet paper into the back of a vehicle during an emergency drive-through food and toilet paper distribution

With a startling 6.6 million people seeking unemployment benefits last week, the United States has reached a grim landmark: More than one in 10 workers have lost their jobs in just the past three weeks to the coronavirus outbreak.

The figures collectively constitute the largest and fastest string of job losses in records dating to 1948. By contrast, during the Great Recession it took 44 weeks — roughly 10 months — for unemployment claims to go as high as they now have in less than a month.

The damage to job markets is extending across the world.

The equivalent of 195 million full-time jobs could be lost in the second quarter to business shutdowns caused by the viral outbreak, according to the United Nations' labor organization.

It estimates that global unemployment will rise by 25 million this year.

And that doesn't even count workers on reduced hours and pay.

Lockdown measures are affecting nearly 2.7 billion workers - about 81 percent of the global workforce - the agency said.

In the United States, the job market is quickly unraveling as businesses have shut down across the country.

A man waits outside the St. Joseph Catholic Worker soup kitchen in the East Village of New York City on Friday

A volunteer is seen left handing out food to hungry New Yorkers in the East Village of Manhattan on Friday

Millions of families across the country have been turning to charity organizations to avoid going hungry amid coronavirus lockdowns

New Yorkers wait in line outside Food Bazaar Supermarket in The Bronx on Friday

New York City has recorded the most coronavirus cases of any city in the country

People receive free groceries at a food distribution point in the Harlem section of Manhattan on Friday

New York City food banks have set up pop-up distribution sites at 15 New York City Housing Authority developments

Several pantries and soup kitchens which received groceries from New York's main food bank were forced to close due to a coronavirus outbreak

Harlem residents are seen above forming a line near a pop-up distribution site in New York City on Friday

New Yorkers receive groceries from the Bethanie French SDA Church food pantry in Brooklyn, New York, on Friday

The city has seen a surge in demand for food as the coronavirus pandemic has sent unemployment skyrocketing

A volunteer is seen above handing out food at the Bethanie French SDA Church food pantry in Brooklyn on Friday

All told, in the past three weeks, 16.8 million Americans have filed for unemployment aid.

The surge of jobless claims has overwhelmed state unemployment offices around the country. And still more job cuts are expected.

More than 20 million people may lose jobs this month. The unemployment rate could hit 15 per cent when the April employment report is released in early May.

The catastrophic economic situation has placed an unbearably heavy burden on food banks across the country.

Hundreds of cars line up for a food give-a-way at the Cordova YMCA in Memphis on Thursday

Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland issued a shelter-at-home executive order 'directing all residents of Memphis to stay inside their homes, and immediately limit all movement outside of their homes beyond what is absolutely necessary to take care of essential needs'

The most restrictive measure governments have adopted across the United States to combat the coronavirus has come to Memphis

Six thousand families lined up in their cars for hours at Traders Village in San Antonio for a food distribution event on Thursday

The San Antonio Food Bank said it distributed one million pounds of food over the course of the day

People are seen standing by their cars as they waited in line for hours to get their hands on food and other essentials

Helpers Alisa Alonzo (left) and Jennifer Byrnes (right) gather bags of split peas to load into cars at Traders Village

In Skagit County, Washington, just north of Seattle, food banks worry that they could run out of food in three weeks if the current pace continues, KIRO-TV reported.

In Revere, Massachusetts, more than 300 people showed up at a local church to receive food, leaving the shelves completely empty.

Normally, about 60 people show up to receive food, but the rising unemployment rate has driven more people to seek help.

Feeding America, the largest hunger-relief organization in the country, estimates that 37 million people are food insecure.

That includes 11 million children and 5.5 million seniors.

'I've never witnessed a system being more strained,' Claire Babineaux-Fontenot, CEO of Feeding America, told ABc News.

'Our estimations are that we will need to serve an additional 17.1 million people through this crisis, on top of an already 37-40 million people that we were serving before.'

'For the first time probably in our history, we've had to turn some people away,' she said.

'We don't want to do that, ever.'

The San Antonio Food Bank distributed one million pounds of food to roughly 6,000 families on Thursday.

Stunning aerial photos show thousands of cars lined up at Trader's Village in San Antonio, Texas, during the massive food distribution event on Thursday.

Families in need waited hours to get their hands on fresh fruit, vegetables and other non-perishable goods that have become hard to find in traditional stores as panic-buying leaves shelves empty.

The sight of long rows of cars waiting outside food banks has become more frequent since the pandemic has made its impact on the United States, with similar scenes seen in Florida and Pennsylvania in the last two weeks.

'The need is that great,' San Antonio Food Bank President and CEO Eric Cooper said of the huge turnout.

'We are moving through food so fast, this is our second big distribution this week, but there are hundreds of distributions that are going on all the time.'