Former donors become clients at food banks

As demand surges at food banks across the country, staff members are watching an unfortunate pattern unfold -- former donors are being forced by economic hard times to seek a helping hand themselves.

"We're seeing a lot of our donors becoming clients," said Becky Guerra of Seattle's Northwest Harvest, which serves a half-million meals a month in Washington state. The charity says demand is up 10 percent and food donations are down 30 percent.

In Pocatello, Idaho, Michael Scull and his wife often donated food and household items to needy patrons of St. Vincent de Paul. Last week, Scull was at the Catholic charity to take home a Thanksgiving dinner for his own family of six.

"My wife just had surgery, and I'm unemployed," said Scull, a cook. "The cooking jobs are really slow in the winter time."

America's Second Harvest, which oversees a nationwide network of more than 200 food banks, says food donations to its programs are up about 4 percent from last year, not enough to keep pace with a 20 percent increase in demand.

"The largest growth in hungry people is the working poor," said Second Harvest chief executive Robert Forney. "As the welfare system changed, many poor people did find employment, but the bad news is they typically don't get benefits and aren't earning enough to make ends meet."

Jobless rates in many states have climbed as companies resort to large-scale layoffs, and more families are using food stamps. Even if not in need themselves, some potential donors are having second thoughts about their ability to give.

"People will call us and say, 'I'm sorry I can't give as much as I did last year,"' said E.J. Underwood, development director with the Charlotte Rescue Mission in North Carolina. "The compassion is there. The finances are not there."

The mission expects 750 people for its annual Thanksgiving feast, about 150 more than last year, but says donations so far this year are off nearly $450,000.

Another Charlotte charity, Loaves & Fishes, estimates it will help 60,000 people this year, double the number it served two years ago.

One woman who had been a loyal longtime donor to Loaves & Fishes recently lost her job with a small manufacturing company. "She called in tears, embarrassed, and asked for help," said Loaves & Fishes director Beverly Howard.

"We're seeing more middle-class people come through our doors who have lost their jobs and are here for the first time," said Patrick Graham, director of emergency financial assistance with Charlotte's Crisis Assistance Ministry. "It's a very scary situation for them."

One such first-time client was Cheryl Poppino, standing in line at a food bank last week in Spokane, Wash. Poppino said she has earned as much as $40,000 a year, but lost her job dealing blackjack, is expecting her fourth child and has been evicted from her apartment.

"I put it off as long as I could," she said of seeking charity. "It's not a situation I'm proud to be in. I don't like to ask for help."

At the St. Vincent de Paul operation in Phoenix, executive director Stephen Zabilski gestured to empty storage shelves and said conditions were the toughest in his six years on the job.

"It's a whole new group of people, the working poor," he said. "And we're seeing people who used to donate come in for help. It's extremely humbling."

Despite the problems, charity officials also have seen some heartening trends. Forney said Second Harvest food banks, even when short of donations, are generally finding plenty of volunteers offering their time.

And in the Seattle region, the United Way has been impressed by a 20 percent increase in pledges from Boeing Co. employees even as their ranks have been thinned by thousands of layoffs. United Way officials said Boeing workers have pledged $18 million, up by $3.1 million from 2001.

In Hammond, Ind., one nonprofit group which helps feed the poor felt obligated to turn down a $2,500 donation offered by a local strip club.

"You have to draw the line sometimes," said Robert Schumm, president of the board of directors of Greater Hammond Community Services. "We try to stay on the straight and narrow."

The strip club, Industrial Strip, found another taker. The Hammond Fraternal Order of Police accepted the $2,500 to distribute food baskets to the needy.

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On the net:

America's Second Harvest: http://www.secondharvest.org