Clear Creek County's only food bank without a home due to plumbing issues

There's only one food bank in Clear Creek County -- Loaves and Fishes -- and they're currently out of a home. 

"One day all of the sudden we just couldn't use the sewer, we don't have any water, when the plumber came out he said 'if you don't get any water, we have to tell the health department and they close you down,'" April Snook, who works on the Loaves and Fishes' board of directors said Thursday. "We can't do that in this county, we are the only food bank in the county, people depend on us and with the SNAP benefits being taken...people are really, really needing food."

In the meantime, while their brick-and-mortar location is out of commission, they've taken to building an outdoor food collection table across the street that people can drive their cars through. It doesn't include the usual hot meal that the program is usually able to help provide.

"I get one every time I come down," Michael Rugg, who was using the food bank said. "Which is all the time." 

Rugg said everything volunteers have been able to do considering the circumstances is incredible. He's one of the hundreds who rely on the food bank to help keep food on the table. 

"We don't have any other food banks, we have people come from Georgetown, Empire, Idaho Springs, we have people living in tents in the middle of winter," Snook said. "Not to mention your rafting guides or ski lift operators, who sometimes don't get paid until their second week."

The repairs necessary to help the crumbling, aged, clay plumbing is somewhere around $70,000. It's not a bill a little charity in the mountains is used to taking on. 

"We are taking out a mortgage on the building, we already had a mortgage, so now we are going to have a much higher mortgage payment and interest rates aren't great right now," Snook explained. "But we have a great board and we have had people step forward."

Clear Creek County also partners with Loaves and Fishes to host a foodbank at the Health and Wellness Center Monday through Friday.

Now they're asking for any person in Colorado who might be able to help them get back on their feet, so they can continue to help hungry Coloradans too. 

"They can't afford to lose this," Snook said. "We have people say they go through periods of their life when they would actually go hungry if it weren't for this organization."

If you think you can help out, you can visit their website here.