Rising gas prices are putting pressure on nonprofits that rely on travel, including mobile food pantries in New York’s Southern Tier.
Community Hunger Outreach Warehouse, known as CHOW, runs a mobile food pantry and uses multiple vehicles daily to recover and distribute food across the region.
Director Les Aylesworth higher fuel costs are forcing the organization to stretch dollars further while trying to keep service uninterrupted.
“It used to be this big, including the gas. Well now it’s now our food purchase budget is smaller,” Aylesworth said. “That means we can purchase less food for the community. So it does have an effect on us.”
In New York State, prices are up more than a dollar compared with this time last year. Aylesworth said CHOW’s logistics require frequent trips.
“One of the big components of our program is our Broom Bounty program, where we pick up recovered food from grocery stores,” he said. “We have those trucks running five days a week, sometimes two trucks a day. On top of that, we’re delivering food that we are distributing out to our partner agencies as well. So we can have upwards of three vehicles a day on the road.”
CHOW’s costs have risen about 50% as fuel prices increased, especially for the larger trucks that run on diesel.
According to GasBuddy.com, the average price for diesel in the Binghamton area is just under $6 a gallon.
“When gas prices are high, it affects everything,” Aylesworth said. “So the cost of getting food to market increases, which increases the cost of the food.”
CHOW largely depends on community donations, and Aylesworth said rising costs can coincide with greater need.
Despite the challenges, he said the organization remains focused on continuing its work across the Southern Tier.