• Updated federal statistics that show an increase in food insecurity across the U.S. underscore the importance of assistance to local food banks.
• Utah Food Bank indicates the growing trend affects as many as 317,000 people in the state.
• An employee-led fundraiser at Marathon Petroleum’s Salt Lake City refinery recently increased the facility’s 2023 support of the food bank to the equivalent of more than 248,000 meals.

Updated statistics from the U.S. Department of Agriculture show food insecurity in the U.S. increased in 2022 by the largest year-over-year rate since 2008, affecting 44 million people in 17 million households. Utah Food Bank points out that about 317,000 of these individuals are in Utah. The growing needs spotlight the importance of assistance like the recent employee-led fundraiser at Marathon Petroleum Corporation’s (MPC) Salt Lake City refinery, which boosted the refinery’s overall financial support for the food bank in 2023 to more than $60,000.

“Corporate and individual support account for 77% of all financial donations, so this is crucial because we are still distributing considerably more food than we did prior to the pandemic,” said Utah Food Bank President & CEO Ginette Bott. “Many people we assist find themselves just one financial emergency away from needing our services and often must return. You can’t just feed a family once and think the issue has gone away.”

“Many people we assist find themselves just one financial emergency away from needing our services and often must return. You can’t just feed a family once and think the issue has gone away.”

Refinery maintenance department employees organized a lunch and raffle for the workforce and contractors as a fundraiser for the food bank, grilling about 600 Polish sausages and hot dogs. The total generated for the food bank was $20,000. Combined with separate grants the refinery provided earlier in the year, MPC’s overall support in 2023 equates to more than 248,000 meals.

“This was our second lunch and raffle after my team came up with this fundraiser idea last year as a way to get the whole refinery involved,” said Maintenance Supervisor Mike Simmons. “We raised more money this year, had fun doing it and would like to keep doing this annually going forward.”

Utah Food Bank, which is based in Salt Lake City, distributes food through a network of 245 partner agencies across all 29 counties in the state. The Salt Lake City refinery’s recent efforts build on the facility’s legacy of aiding the food bank, which extends all the way back to 2001.