LOGAN, Ohio -- Melissa Castle
bundled her 7-year-old daughter
in a blanket about 3:30 a.m.
yesterday and hurried to the
monthly food distribution at the
Smith Chapel United Methodist
Church Food Pantry in rural
Hocking County. Seventh in one
of two lines of vehicles,
Castle, 29, turned off her car
and pulled a blanket up over her
shoulders. Her daughter,
Savannah, was asleep in the seat
next to her, dressed for school
while most of her classmates
were home in bed.
Volunteers began arriving before
dawn to haul crates of hams,
potatoes, canned vegetables and
other provisions -- 85,000
pounds of food in all -- onto
the lot. At 8:30 a.m., a
volunteer motioned to drivers to
open their trunks and pull up.
By then, the line had grown to
nearly 200 cars and stretched
more than a mile and a half.
"I barely make any money, and
the money I get goes toward my
rent," said Castle, who is
divorced and works part time at
a nearby restaurant. "There is
nothing here for anybody. People
are forced to put their hands
out for help." Christmas music
rang from speakers set up
outside as volunteers packed her
trunk with food before she
rushed Savannah to school.
By early afternoon, food was
distributed to 2,081 county
residents in 750 households.
That's more than 7 percent of
Hocking County's population.
"It's shocking," said Rep. Zack
Space, a Dover Democrat who
toured Smith Chapel and another
food pantry in Wellston
yesterday. "I knew hunger
existed, but I was unaware of
the magnitude." Hunger is a
persistent problem across the
nation, and the issue is drawing
increased attention as demand
soars and supplies dwindle.
The Ohio Association of Second
Harvest Foodbanks last week
asked the Strickland
administration for an additional
$1 million a month for seven
months to ease the crisis.
Lawmakers in the last state
budget approved $8.5 million of
the association's $14 million
request. Meanwhile, Ohio Sen.
Sherrod Brown is pushing
emergency legislation to provide
$40 million to pantries. The
money would maintain food
assistance while the House and
Senate in January work out
differences in separate versions
of the farm bill, which funds
such programs.
Nearly 36 million Americans
experienced "food insecurity"
last year, meaning they didn't
have enough money for food and
were hungry at some point,
according to an annual study
released by the U.S. Department
of Agriculture. In Ohio, "food
insecurity" increased last year
to 12.7 percent, up from 10.9
percent the previous year. The
needy include the working poor,
retirees on fixed incomes,
single parents and the
unemployed.
Dannie Duvol said when he and
others at his church started the
Smith Chapel pantry eight years
ago, 17 families were served in
the first month. Demand has
grown so much that last year
distributions were cut from
twice a month to once. "We
didn't get the government supply
of food that we had been and
manufacturers didn't have the
surplus to give," said Duvol,
81. He credits volunteers -- 80
were on hand yesterday from 15
church and civic groups -- and
private and corporate donors for
keeping the pantry going. A
$15,000 donation purchased the
hams given out yesterday, a
special treat for Christmas.
Peggy Spires, 62, worried about
running out of gas before
volunteers loaded her car. She
started coming for food a few
months ago when her five
grandchildren moved in with her
and her husband. Her daughter,
the children's mother, lost her
job, and their father is in
jail. "It's been stressful. I
have my own bills to pay,"
Spires said.
We've had several factories
close and move south. You start
losing jobs a hundred at a time
and it doesn't take long. People
would drive to Lancaster or
Columbus for work, but with gas
prices, it's hard and there's no
work around here. It's dead.
Waiting in line for food at
Smith Chapel, George Williston,
67, of Logan, predicted it was
only going to get worse. "Every
time you turn around, they are
closing things down, laying
people off," said Williston, who
retired a few years ago from the
Ohio Historical Society, where
he worked as a janitor.
"At the end of the month, food
gets scarce. By the time we pay
the rent and insurance, there
just isn't much left." Santa
Claus, who handed out candy at
Smith Chapel yesterday, agreed.
"They are sending all the jobs
overseas," said Steve Adams, 37,
who, when not working as Santa,
oversees international shipping
for Pacific Rail Services. "We
send things overseas to get
fixed. We ought to be doing it
here."
-By C Candisky, Columbus
Dispatch |
