Hunger, unfortunately, is alive and well.
To counter that growing problem, the Greater Boston Food Bank continues to distribute truckloads of donated foodstuffs to 190 municipalities within nine eastern Massachusetts counties.
Starting in August the number of food-truck deliveries to Taunton will increase from three to four times a month, according to Gary Krist, GBFB’s manager of member services.
“The need is so great,” Krist said, referring to recent reports that the census bureau’s official poverty rate for 2011 will be as high as 15.7 percent, compared to 15.1 percent in 2010.
Taunton has four “member” nonprofit agencies that distribute food provided by the 31-year-old GBFB — including Society of St. Vincent de Paul, Our Daily Bread soup kitchen, Community Care Services and Coyle and Cassidy High School’s food pantry.
Taunton is also the largest drop-off destination with more than 60,000 pounds of food brought in each delivery day.
The reason for this, Krist said, is the availability of generous cross-dock delivery space provided gratis by a Taunton-based food-storage and distribution company.
John Sullivan, president of Rich’s Transportation Services Inc., said he’s “just happy to help out.”
“This way they don’t have to fork over any rent to anybody, and it doesn’t cost us anything,” he said.
Sullivan says he offers up the delivery docks of his expansive warehouse on Myles Standish Boulevard specifically on Wednesdays, because it doesn’t conflict with his business operations.
“Wednesday is typically a slower day for us,” he said.
Rich’s Transportation also has a corporate office and freezer storage in separate building in Myles Standish Industrial Park.
As many as 40 South Shore-based social service agencies come to the Rich’s site to take delivery of a variety of food — including fruit, Georgia corn, frozen meat, canned vegetables, eggs and boxes of milk and juice.
GBFB estimates that more than 5,000 St. Vincent de Paul clients receive free food each month courtesy of the Boston-based program.
“It’s a very important part of our operations,” said David Bisson, president of the Taunton chapter of St. Vincent de Paul at 141 Washington St.
Bisson called his group’s twice-a-month food distribution “one of our key programs.”
Krist said most of the food items, which amount to an estimated 40 million pounds distributed each year, come from private donors such as large grocery chains.