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Mountain Food Pantries Suffer With Ski Season Delays

By Matt Kroschel

SILVERTHORNE, Colo. (CBS4) - As the sun beats down on nearly dry ski runs, seasonal resort workers are turning to local mountain town food banks for assistance.

Anita Overmyer with the Family and Intracultural Resource Center (FIRC) in Summit County, tells CBS4 they doubled the number of people they served at the food bank this week alone.

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Copper Mountain Ski Area on Wednesday (credit: CBS)

"A lot of the lift ops, people that have just moved to town thinking that their job is going to be starting- they to do what they have to do," Overmyer said.

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(credit: CBS)

Workers at FIRC tell CBS4's Matt Kroschel they anticipate some increased need during the early season every year around this time- but this year is different.

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(credit: CBS)

"Many employees are challenged to get that first paycheck we know the first couple weeks are always busy but considering this year the start dates for a lot of resorts is kind of unknown at this time," Overmyer said.

Copper Mountain, Keystone and Breckenridge ski areas all were forced to push back opening days due to a lack of snow and the inability to make snow in the above average temperatures.

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(credit: CBS)

"People are definitely going to be challenged to keep food on the table," Overmyer added.

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(credit: CBS)

Matt Kroschel covers news throughout Colorado working from the CBS4 Mountain Newsroom. Send story ideas to mrkroschel@cbs.com and connect with him on Twitter @Matt_Kroschel.

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