Vashon Thriftway has decided to double the amount of money it donates to the Vashon Maury Community Food Bank each December by way of the “care cards” many customers choose to buy.

For 15 years, Thriftway has offered a $2,500 match to customers’ contributions, resulting in a $5,000 gift to the food bank. Now, said Norm Mathews, Thriftway’s owner, the store will provide a $5,000 match to customers’ contributions.

Assuming that customers contribute enough for Thriftway to make the full match, it means the food bank will receive $10,000 as a result of the store’s December push, said Yvonne Pitrof, director of the food bank. That’s an enormous donation for the food bank, which has an annual operating budget of $150,000, Pitrof said.

“We’re just absolutely thrilled,” she said. “It’s really helpful to us.”

Mathews said this is the first increase in Thriftway’s care card match since the store started the tradition 15 years ago.

“We just decided that with inflation and the support the community has given that this is something that should be done to help the food bank,” he said.

The store has had no problem making the $2,500 match, he said, but it’s not clear if customers will contribute enough for it to make the $5,000 match.

“We’re going to test and find out,” he said. “Let’s hope it does work.”

The enhanced contribution comes at an important time for the food bank, which is working harder than ever to keep its shelves fully stocked because of recent changes in the stream of donated foods, Pitrof said.

For years, food banks across the country have received scores of dented or mislabeled canned and boxed foods, surplus items that stores donated to food banks because they couldn’t sell them. But several changes have caused those surpluses to decline dramatically. Discount grocery stores, for instance, have sprung up, willing to buy and resell the damaged goods; new technology, meanwhile, has reduced the number of production errors.

It’s a nationwide trend that’s been hurting food banks throughout the country, Pitrof said.

“It’s taken a little while for us to really feel the impact,” she said. “We’re now starting to.”

The food bank has been able to compensate by offering more perishable foods, she said, but that also has a downside: It means increases in the organization’s refrigeration costs and is hard for some of its clients, who need canned goods to get through the week, she said.

Several food drives will take place this month to help the food bank stock its shelves. But because the food bank is skilled at purchasing food in bulk, Pitrof said, the cash that comes to the food bank by way of care cards and other donations is particularly important.

“With money, we can usually make a purchase for a better price,” she said.

The care cards enable shoppers at Thriftway to add $5, $10 or more to their food bill when they’re at the cash register, contributions that are tax deductible. Many do it year-round, Pitrof said. As of the end of October, the food bank had received $4,500 from care card contributions, she said.

With Thriftway’s match, December’s contributions become even more important, she added.

“We have to get the word out. If you’re going to make a care card contribution, now’s the time to do it,” she said.