Before Taylor Swift’s July 14, 2023 concert in Denver, Aditi Desai, marketing director for the Food Bank of the Rockies, received an unusual call. The billionaire pop star wanted to donate tens of thousands of meals to the nonprofit organization – a philanthropic act that, much like her favorite songs, she repeats as she travels the country on her 52-city Eras Tour.
“I was shocked and then thrilled by the news,” Desai said. “When (Swift’s representatives) told us the news, they were kind enough to let us know that Taylor wanted to express her gratitude for the work we do every day in our community.”
Since last March, Swift has donated the equivalent of hundreds of thousands of meals to feed the growing number of Americans struggling with rising food and housing costs. She has chosen to do so without fanfare, and the gifts have been welcomed. Yet food bank operators say they have provided only temporary assistance as food insecurity has increased and federal COVID-19 aid has been phased out.
“We got so much support during COVID,” said Jessica Sund, director of development and communications at the Channel One Regional Food Bank of Minnesota, which received funding from Swift. “That really helped us avoid getting into a terrible situation. But the numbers we’re seeing are so much higher now because of inflation and the cost of living, and all that support is gone.”
Swift’s support has been significant, food bank operators say, especially because it has raised awareness of their important service to low- and middle-income people. But overall, food banks need billions of dollars in funding each year, says Kyle Waide, CEO of the Atlanta Community Food Bank, chairman of the National Council for Feeding America and whose Georgia food bank is supported by Swift.
According to Feeding America, a network of food banks, food pantries and local meal programs, the annual funding gap between food assistance needs and government funding is about $33 billion.
“At a macro level, food banks are certainly under a lot of pressure right now, especially due to the exceptionally high demand in society,” Waide said.
According to Feeding America, food banks typically rely on donations from individuals and businesses, contributions from local farmers and retailers, and government assistance programs to operate.
The self-described “tortured poet,” whose estimated net worth is more than $1 billion, has supported emergency relief efforts in the past. Swift’s charitable fund at the Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee was set up to respond to the floods that hit the region in 2010. Last year, she donated $1 million to the Community Foundation’s Tennessee Emergency Response Fund.
Food banks that were lucky enough to receive some of her funds have praised the pop star for highlighting their efforts to fight hunger in the face of inflation, rising food and energy costs and increased demand for their services. At least 49 million Americans rely on food from food banks and other charities. Young people, who make up a large portion of Swift’s audience, are increasingly affected by food insecurity, with more than half of 18- to 34-year-olds saying that rising food costs are their biggest financial concern.
Swift’s public relations team declined to comment on her donations to the food bank. The recipients said they were asked not to disclose the amount of the gifts. But Desai said the donation enabled the food bank to buy enough food for 75,000 meals. Typically, the food bank can provide about three meals for every dollar donated, she said.
The Channel One Regional Food Bank of Minnesota was able to purchase 30,000 meals with its donation, according to Jessica Sund, the organization’s director of development and communications. For every dollar donated, the food banks can purchase between two and 10 meals, she said.
“The differences between the individual boards are really enormous,” said Sund.
At Channel One, it typically costs about $8 million a year to stock the shelves with enough food for about 300,000 visits from people in 14 countries.
Swift’s donations appear to represent only a tiny percentage of the tour’s income and her personal fortune, yet many of the recipients of her donations consider the attention she brings them to be priceless.
Their donation generated a level of media attention that the Food Bank of the Rockies could never afford, Desai said. “We saw a rapid increase in ‘likes’ and ‘comments’ under the social media post announcing the donation, with exponentially more engagement than we normally receive,” Desai said.
Some food banks reported seeing an increase in small donations in response to press coverage. However, this did not last long, and most food banks continue to struggle with high demand for their services as more Americans struggle to make ends meet.
Channel One is seeing an increase in individuals and families seeking help for the first time because they realize they can no longer afford to buy food, Sund said. Currently, the organization is receiving 10,000 visits to its local food bank in Rochester, Minnesota, an increase of about 50 percent from last year, she said.
Sund and other food bank leaders point out that inflation and a lack of affordable housing are contributing to the increased demand. The end of federal pandemic aid has exacerbated those problems, they said. In 2020, at the height of the pandemic, the federal government expanded the child tax credit program for low-income families. Lawmakers allowed the provision to expire at the end of 2021. Likewise, temporary benefit increases for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program expired in March 2023.
Second Harvest of Silicon Valley also received a gift from Swift during the U.S. leg of her tour. The organization had heard that Swift was donating to food banks and contacted her press team about a month before her performances in Santa Clara last July, said Shobana Gubbi, chief philanthropy officer at Second Harvest of Silicon Valley.
“They just called us the day before the concert,” she said.
Gubbi declined to provide further details about the donation, saying only that the organization was grateful for the gift and for Swift “shining a light on the food shortage.” But the situation on the ground has not improved much. The Silicon Valley region has been hit hard by layoffs in the tech sector, which have led to fewer donations, even from those still employed, Gubbi said. People are afraid for their job security and are donating less; and when those donations drop, that also means less money from corporate grants, Gubbi added.
In response, Second Harvest is cutting its budget and reducing its staff, she said. Food rations have also been scaled back; instead of gallons of milk, the bank now distributes half-gallons and gives meat, eggs and dairy on a weekly rotation, she said. Some weeks people receive meat, others may only receive dairy and eggs, Gubbi explained. The organization currently serves 500,000 people a month, about the same number as during the peak of the pandemic.
“It’s a big challenge for us right now to get support from the community,” she said.
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Stephanie Beasley is a senior editor at the Chronicle of Philanthropy, where you can read the full article. This article was provided to the Associated Press by the Chronicle of Philanthropy as part of a partnership to cover philanthropy and nonprofits supported by the Lilly Endowment. The Chronicle is solely responsible for its content. For all of AP’s philanthropy coverage, visit https://apnews.com/hub/philanthropy.
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