OMAHA, Neb. — What started out as a 911 complaint about long lines at a food pantry creating a "hazard," has turned into an outpouring of support and donations to Food Bank for the Heartland.
Food banks have seen an uptick in demand since March. The pandemic has increased food insecurity all over, including in Nebraska and Iowa.
“All across the food bank’s 93 county service area, food insecurity has risen from approximately 207,000 to nearly 300,000 individuals," Food Bank for the Heartland communications manager Angie Grote said. "The need is greater than ever.”
And more demand may lean longer lines at food pantries. That's exactly what one individual called the police to complain about Tuesday morning. A local police scanner account tweeted that they had cited the long line as a "hazard."
Anonymous caller to 911 is upset because the food bank line is creating a “hazard” and this is an ongoing issue...
— Omaha Scanner (@omaha_scanner) October 6, 2020
After seeing the tweet, the community decided to do something about it.
As of Wednesday morning, "the food bank received more than $2,000 dollars in donations that were tied back to the Omaha Scanner tweet," Grote said.
People responded to the tweet with screenshots of donations to the Food Bank for the Heartland.
That is an emergency. Someone should do something. pic.twitter.com/OVPr9GUZOy
— Rick Jeffries (@fourtotheside) October 6, 2020
The kicker is that it was not their location that created this "hazard," but a local food pantry they work closely with.
“It may have pertained to one of our many pantry partners across the Omaha metro, and they have done an outstanding job during this crisis," Grote said.
The food bank says they will use this extra bump of donations to continue to help the local community struggling with food insecurity.
The Omaha Police Department does not have a police report filed for this incident.
