In response to the increase in the number of people experiencing food insecurity, Teller County’s fire chiefs host a food drive Saturday at the Woodland Park Walmart.

“Food pantries are running low,” said Joe O’Conor, chair of the Teller County Fire Chiefs Association who is coordinating the drive.  O’Conor is chief of the Cripple Creek Fire Department.

After reaching out to the Aspen Mine Center, Little Chapel Food Pantry and Community Partnership Family Resource Center, the chiefs learned that each is operating with of shortage of food and supplies.  

“We want to collect enough to restock the shelves,” O’Conor said.

At Community Partnership, CP, the number of recipients of food baskets has increased from 45 bags in the first quarter of 2025 to 75 bags during the same time this year.

As inflation adds to the cost of nearly everything, all the food pantries are once again responding to a crisis. 

“We went ‘through the roof’’ during the SNAP crisis,” said Cory Gorton, vice president of programs at CP.

Gorton was referring to the federal government’s halt of payments in November to the recipients of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.

That was then.

While SNAP benefits have been restored, a combination of federal and state grants to nonprofit organizations have been cut by 25%

Gorton highlights the ongoing struggles of people for whom food scarcity can lead to a transformation.

“We are a welcoming and inviting environment so we may have a deeper conversation and find out that it’s not just food,” Gorton said.  “It might be health, or mental health, employment, transportation, all of those things that we know are struggles in our community.”

With a variety of programs, the nonprofit organization helps improve lives with employment opportunities through the career center or GED program.

“Often people don’t realize they need or want that connection,” Gorton said. “They may have come in to the center panicked or scared. Here, they feel they are not alone.”

Loneliness contributes to the success of the Wednesday meals at the Aspen Mine Center, said Ted Borden, the executive director. 

“We always try to provide some type of protein, hamburger maybe, but the socialization part of the program is as important as the food,” Borden said. “Many come because they’re lonely.”

While the center’s food pantry has experienced a 15% increase in the number of recipients, the USDA commodities program is receiving fewer deliveries from Care & Share, Borden said.

“We’re having to use more than 50% of our food from other sources for the program,” Borden said.

Like those who come to CP, the food requests are often a touchstone for other issues, Borden said. “We get them initiated into our programs, with a case manager,” he added.

With the food drive Saturday, the fire chiefs of Teller County are removing a veil.

“I feel like our community is becoming more disconnected,” said Dustin Bench, chair of CP’s board of directors.  “We are rural; we’ve got kids who are home-schooled, go to charter or public schools, so we have this center that brings people together.”

Ken and Judi Hesselberg see an increase in recipients and a decrease in donations.

“I think the causes are the cost of food, fuel, and housing is still very high in our county, and incomes are not going up to match,” the Hesselbergs said in an email. “Also, the availability of food donations continues to go down, so the amount we are spending to buy the food keeps going up.”

If the other food pantries are running low, Borden said he shares what any extras from the center’s pantry. 

“The food drive by the fire chiefs is awesome!” he said. “Kudos to them.”

The food drive is from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. May 9 in the parking lot at the Woodland Park Walmart.