Volunteers and staff members packed 6,795 pounds of food into more than 120 boxes to distribute at the Food Bank of the Rockies mobile food pantry operation at the Montbello Recreation Center in Aurora on Thursday.

Volunteer students from the Denver Center for International Studies at Montbello and the Noel Community Arts School at Montbello packed more than 150 bags of children’s meals.

Cars starting lining up at 6 a.m. for the giveaway that started at 9 a.m. Thursday. More than 120 cars made it through.

A lot more have joined the line lately at all the mobile pantry locations with inflation at a 40-year high, making it ever-more challenging to get food on the table.

“In March and April of this year, we spent upwards of $1.3 million each month to purchase food — triple the amount we were spending monthly in 2019,” said Aditi Desai, vice president of marketing and communications.

“I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for this inflation,” said Sylvia Conley, 62, of Aurora. “It’s not just the food, it’s everything.”

Conley cuts coupons, tries to buy in bulk, and visits the stores with the lowest prices to stretch her disability budget as far as it can go. And she tries to maintain a positive outlook.

“I tell you, I should have turned into a noodle by now with as many of them as I’ve had to eat lately,” she said. “I know how to make them 20 different ways, with ketchup or mayonnaise. It’s frustrating. I buy a 20-pack of toilet paper that used to be $13.75. Now it’s $15 or more for the same toilet paper!”

Seth and Brittany Nederbeld of Parker said the higher costs of just about everything has strained their finances.

“We’re literally living in our van because rent has gone up so much,” said Seth Nederbeld as the couple were heading into a Parker Walmart. “The cost of utilities, everything. It’s all gone up and we can’t afford more.”

Brittany Nederbeld said they have a membership at a local gym, which they use for showers.

“I think we’re going to have to move out of Colorado. (It’s) all so expensive,” she said. “Minimum wage is not enough to make it around here, and wages don’t seem to have gone up like everything else.”

Conley and the Nederbelds are not alone with the struggle.

Inflation is hitting almost every American because prices are rising the fastest for necessities like food, energy and transportation, said Tatiana Bailey, director of the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs Economic Forum.

“It is hard for the average person to escape because the impact is so widespread and broad-based,” Bailey said.

She said a labor shortage, supply chain problems and the war in Ukraine all are fueling inflation. While some reports have indicated supply chain problems are beginning to improve, she said Russia’s continued assault on Ukraine and pandemic-related lockdowns in China are bound to reverse those gains.

She believes Federal Reserve interest rate hikes needed to bring inflation under control — like the hefty half-point hike in its benchmark short-term rate that the Fed announced Wednesday — could tip the economy into recession. The classic definition of a recession is two consecutive quarters of falling economic output — and economic output declined in the first quarter of the year.

“We just need another decline in GDP (gross domestic product, or economic output) in this quarter to be in a recession. If it doesn’t happen this year, the probability is quite high it will happen next year,” Bailey said.

Inflation, meanwhile, is likely to continue at elevated levels for at least another nine months to a year, Bailey said.

The latest Quarterly Business and Economic Indicators report from the Leeds Business Research Division at the University of Colorado Boulder offered at least a glimmer of hope. While food and energy costs were still high in the first quarter of the year, they were “increasing at a decreasing rate in the last couple of months,” said Brian Lewandowski, executive director of the Leeds School of Business Research Division.

Desai, of the Food Bank of the Rockies, said the struggle has been intense the past two years, first with the pandemic and now with inflation.

“The need for food assistance is still higher than pre-COVID levels across our service area,” Desai said. “Our monthly food distribution volume is currently 34% more than pre-COVID-19 levels. We saw this dip and then increase again based on fluctuations in the pandemic and the increase in inflation. Currently, we are distributing enough food to provide upwards of 175,000 meals every day.”

Asked about a newer looking Cadillac Escalade SUV in line, Desai’s answer was touching and informative:

“You can find hunger everywhere — often where you least expect it. We trust that anyone seeking food assistance needs food assistance in that moment. Unexpected medical bills, increased housing costs, inflation, and all sorts of additional unforeseen circumstances can throw off a person’s budget. Any of us can be food insecure at any moment in our lives depending on circumstances.”

Monica Villela of Denver has been volunteering at the food bank for 10 years, and lately has had to be a client, too.

“Prices are just so high right now,” she said. “This food is really a big help for us.”

Trying to feed her family of four children, with only the income of her husband, has been made even more challenging by a homeowners association in Green Valley Ranch, where the family lives. The association is proceeding with foreclosure on the family home because of delinquent HOA dues, she said.

“We’ve been looking for a place to rent, but it’s so expensive now it’s ridiculous,” Villela said.

“When I attend distributions and speak to community members, the increase in cost to purchase even basic staples like milk, eggs, and bread means people are not able to stretch their budgets as far as they previously could,” Desai said. “That compounded by the increased cost of fuel and rent for housing are driving factors for picking up additional food to help supplement what people buy at the store.”

Gazette business reporter Wayne Heilman contributed to this report.

Volunteers and staff members packed 6,795 pounds of food into more than 120 boxes to distribute at the Food Bank of the Rockies mobile food pantry operation at the Montbello Recreation Center in Aurora on Thursday.

Volunteer students from the Denver Center for International Studies at Montbello and the Noel Community Arts School at Montbello packed more than 150 bags of children’s meals.

Cars starting lining up at 6 a.m. for the giveaway that started at 9 a.m. Thursday. More than 120 cars made it through.

A lot more have joined the line lately at all the mobile pantry locations with inflation at a 40-year high, making it ever-more challenging to get food on the table.

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“In March and April of this year, we spent upwards of $1.3 million each month to purchase food — triple the amount we were spending monthly in 2019,” said Aditi Desai, vice president of marketing and communications.

“I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for this inflation,” said Sylvia Conley, 62, of Aurora. “It’s not just the food, it’s everything.”

Conley cuts coupons, tries to buy in bulk, and visits the stores with the lowest prices to stretch her disability budget as far as it can go. And she tries to maintain a positive outlook.

“I tell you, I should have turned into a noodle by now with as many of them as I’ve had to eat lately,” she said. “I know how to make them 20 different ways, with ketchup or mayonnaise. It’s frustrating. I buy a 20-pack of toilet paper that used to be $13.75. Now it’s $15 or more for the same toilet paper!”

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Seth and Brittany Nederbeld of Parker said the higher costs of just about everything has strained their finances.

“We’re literally living in our van because rent has gone up so much,” said Seth Nederbeld as the couple were heading into a Parker Walmart. “The cost of utilities, everything. It’s all gone up and we can’t afford more.”

Brittany Nederbeld said they have a membership at a local gym, which they use for showers.

“I think we’re going to have to move out of Colorado. (It’s) all so expensive,” she said. “Minimum wage is not enough to make it around here, and wages don’t seem to have gone up like everything else.”

Conley and the Nederbelds are not alone with the struggle.

Inflation is hitting almost every American because prices are rising the fastest for necessities like food, energy and transportation, said Tatiana Bailey, director of the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs Economic Forum.

“It is hard for the average person to escape because the impact is so widespread and broad-based,” Bailey said.

She said a labor shortage, supply chain problems and the war in Ukraine all are fueling inflation. While some reports have indicated supply chain problems are beginning to improve, she said Russia’s continued assault on Ukraine and pandemic-related lockdowns in China are bound to reverse those gains.

She believes Federal Reserve interest rate hikes needed to bring inflation under control — like the hefty half-point hike in its benchmark short-term rate that the Fed announced Wednesday — could tip the economy into recession. The classic definition of a recession is two consecutive quarters of falling economic output — and economic output declined in the first quarter of the year.

“We just need another decline in GDP (gross domestic product, or economic output) in this quarter to be in a recession. If it doesn’t happen this year, the probability is quite high it will happen next year,” Bailey said.

Inflation, meanwhile, is likely to continue at elevated levels for at least another nine months to a year, Bailey said.

The latest Quarterly Business and Economic Indicators report from the Leeds Business Research Division at the University of Colorado Boulder offered at least a glimmer of hope. While food and energy costs were still high in the first quarter of the year, they were “increasing at a decreasing rate in the last couple of months,” said Brian Lewandowski, executive director of the Leeds School of Business Research Division.

Desai, of the Food Bank of the Rockies, said the struggle has been intense the past two years, first with the pandemic and now with inflation.

“The need for food assistance is still higher than pre-COVID levels across our service area,” Desai said. “Our monthly food distribution volume is currently 34% more than pre-COVID-19 levels. We saw this dip and then increase again based on fluctuations in the pandemic and the increase in inflation. Currently, we are distributing enough food to provide upwards of 175,000 meals every day.”

Asked about a newer looking Cadillac Escalade SUV in line, Desai’s answer was touching and informative:

“You can find hunger everywhere — often where you least expect it. We trust that anyone seeking food assistance needs food assistance in that moment. Unexpected medical bills, increased housing costs, inflation, and all sorts of additional unforeseen circumstances can throw off a person’s budget. Any of us can be food insecure at any moment in our lives depending on circumstances.”

Monica Villela of Denver has been volunteering at the food bank for 10 years, and lately has had to be a client, too.

“Prices are just so high right now,” she said. “This food is really a big help for us.”

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Trying to feed her family of four children, with only the income of her husband, has been made even more challenging by a homeowners association in Green Valley Ranch, where the family lives. The association is proceeding with foreclosure on the family home because of delinquent HOA dues, she said.

“We’ve been looking for a place to rent, but it’s so expensive now it’s ridiculous,” Villela said.

“When I attend distributions and speak to community members, the increase in cost to purchase even basic staples like milk, eggs, and bread means people are not able to stretch their budgets as far as they previously could,” Desai said. “That compounded by the increased cost of fuel and rent for housing are driving factors for picking up additional food to help supplement what people buy at the store.”

Gazette business reporter Wayne Heilman contributed to this report.