Partnerships Fighting Hunger, Pt. 2

In another example of public-private innovation, the East Texas Food Bank has partnered with the federal Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) to tackle the growing problem of hunger among working families in that area.

According to KETK News in Tyler, children are showing up "in record numbers" at the Food Bank's summer meals sites - 1,600 more per day than last summer (a 12% increase). "We do think that's a direct effect of high fuel and food costs," said Food Bank Executive Director Robert Bush.

Thankfully, through SFSP the cost of these additional meals will be reimbursed by the federal government. SFSP is an example of a public program built to combine the large-scale efficiencies of government with the local knowledge and mission-driven passion of private charity.

(Update: new data from the Food Research and Action Center shows that Texas is forgoing $38.4 million in potential aid from the SFSP program due to under-participation - evidence that more partnerships between the state and local charities should be encouraged.)

Partnerships Fighting Hunger

The fight against hunger in America is a marriage between public resources and the private touch of charity. This arrangement - largely the result of imported English poor law that codified churches as the local hand of social services - was evident in the very first American soup kitchen, which was run by a New York charity using land and capital donated by the colonial state.

Today this public-private tradition continues, as nonprofits like Catholic Social Services and the Food Bank of the Rio Grande Valley partner with the State of Texas to assist those impoverished by Hurricane Dolly.

According to the Brownsville Herald, these charities are filling the gap left over when the Food Stamps Program, our nation's first line of defense against hunger, refuses those who don't qualify for its strict measures of need. "We are trying to help all those people that fall into the cracks," said CSS Director Sister Norma Pimentel.

At the same time, the State is recruiting charities like the Food Bank to get the word out about its efforts to replace the benefits of those who lost food in the storm. Many victims of the hurricane may also be eligible for Expedited Food Stamps, which are available much more quickly than normal benefits, and can help Dolly's victims get back on their feet.

State Replaces Food Lost to Dolly

Today, Texas Health and Human Services (HHSC) announced a plan to replace food lost by low-income families during Hurricane Dolly.

By issuing replacement food stamps in five counties, the agency hopes to assist over 40,000 families left hungry by power outages caused during the storm.

Such efforts will make a huge difference for families living on the edge of hunger, for whom Dolly was a disastrous event.

Gas Prices, Other Factors Affect Delivery of Help

As lines continue to grow at Texas soup kitchens and food pantries from Dallas to Lubbock, these agencies are facing a new problem - how to reach those who are no longer able to reach out for help.

"We are drowning," said Judy Rorrie, director of Dallas North Shared Ministries. "The increased cost of gas and food is affecting everyone. Our clients are forced to pay for one thing versus another."

"The gasoline has people not coming into the centers," Syble McClain, director of Polk County Aging Services, told the Beaumont Enterprise. "It's making them homebound. Most of them are just overwhelmed at the cost of everything."

To help, some larger agencies like Austin's Capital Area Food Bank have begun "mobile pantry" programs to meet clients where they are.

"These are families that are doing everything right," said Lyn Garcia of the South Plains Food Bank. "They are playing by the rules. They are going to work every day, but at the end of the month they just can't make it."

Relief for Hurricane's Hungry

A little-known fact about the "emergency food system" in Texas is that most families forced to visit the state's nineteen food banks and food rescue organizations are actually facing hunger caused by "chronic" conditions like underemployment, low wages, low education levels, a lack of assets or the rising cost of living.

However, the system lives up to its name when responding to sudden emergencies like last week's Hurricane Dolly. Across South Texas, anti-hunger organizations like the Food Bank of the Rio Grande Valley, Food Bank of Corpus Christi, South Texas Food Bank, North Texas Food Bank and East Texas Food Bank responded rapidly and effectively to help victims of the crisis.

“We are always on standby and ready to respond in times of disaster,” said Robert L. Bush, executive director of the East Texas Food Bank.

Food Banks "Desperate" for Supplies

Yesterday, KEYE-TV Austin kicked off a local food drive for the Capital Area Food Bank with a special report on the diminishing supplies squeezing every link on the emergency food chain.

“It’s just unbelievable the amount of people that come in,” said Bob Craddock, co-director of a pantry supplied by the Food Bank.

Food Bank CEO David Davenport agreed, pointing out that Austin feeding agencies are experiencing 20-30% growth in their normal clientele, most of whom are not homeless (85%) and half of whom (47%) are working.

“A lot of the families that our pantries and soup kitchens are seeing are first time families,” said Kerri Qunell of the Food Bank. “They’ve never had to rely on emergency food assistance before.”

Getting By on $3 a Day

This past month, the staff of the Capital Area Food Bank received an education in the daily hardships facing Texans who receive the state average of $1/day in food stamps benefits from an unlikely source...their CEO.

For the past four weeks, Food Bank CEO David Davenport has embarked on a personal challenge to eat on a "food stamps budget," only allowing himself $21/week to buy the bare essentials.

As a person with diabetes and a recent history of health problems, David lived the experience of many seniors and medically disabled Texans who count on food stamps as their only source of food. His experience, as he recounts on the CAFB blog, demonstrated the real-life tradeoffs between food and medicine that plague many food-insecure Texans.