Posted on Wed, Nov. 18, 2009

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Locally, hunger growing

Working, jobless alike seek aid from pantry

BY SUZANNE PEREZ TOBIAS

The Wichita Eagle

Like most of the people huddled against the cold outside the Bread of Life food pantry Tuesday morning, Martha Johnson didn't want to be there. "It makes me cry," said Johnson, 42, who recently lost her job at a Wichita fast-food restaurant. Her husband has cancer, she said, and their 21-year-old son also lost his job.

"But right now it's hard to find work," she said. "I'm just hoping for a turkey and things for Thanksgiving dinner for my family."

Johnson and the nearly 3,000 others who received food at the pantry's annual Thanksgiving giveaway are a glimpse into the toll that a weak economy is taking in Wichita and elsewhere.

According to a government report released this week, more Americans than ever — including one in five children — live in households in which food at times runs short.

The number of Americans who lack dependable access to adequate food shot up last year to 49 million — the largest number since the government has been keeping track.

"It's not a surprise to us," said Brian Walker, president of the Kansas Food Bank, which supplies food to Bread of Life and more than 500 other relief organizations.

"With the number of layoffs we've seen in our community, people in our network are talking about 20 to 30 percent increases in the number of clients they're seeing."

People lined up outside the Bread of Life pantry on South Hillside hours before Tuesday's giveaway.

Terry Olguin, 53, was there for the first time, hoping to secure the makings of a Thanksgiving meal for her family. She said she heard about the giveaway from someone at church.

"I lost my job, so it's been hard," said Olguin, who huddled beneath a blanket outside the pantry entrance.

She worked as a bartender for a nightclub that closed a few months ago, she said. Her husband, also unemployed, does maintenance work for the couple's landlord to pay rent on their duplex.

"Money just doesn't stretch as far anymore," Olguin said. "Everything's more expensive."

Bread of Life director Donna Pinaire said Tuesday's line, which stretched out toward the wooden roller coaster at nearby Joyland amusement park, seemed at least as long as last year's.

Families received turkeys, stuffing mix, potatoes, canned vegetables, desserts and other traditional Thanksgiving fare.

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture report, nearly 15 percent of Americans last year did not consistently have adequate food, compared with about 11 percent in 2007.

People in 4.8 million households used private food pantries in 2008 — nearly 1 million more than the year before — and people in about 625,000 households went to soup kitchens.

Food shortages are particularly pronounced among women raising children alone, the report showed. Last year, more than one in three single mothers said they struggled for food, and more than one in seven said someone in their home had been hungry.

Soledad Ibarra, a single mother of four, waited with her youngest daughter, 3-year-old Yaciri, outside Bread of Life on Tuesday. She said she visits the pantry once a month to get food for her family.

"They help me a lot over here," said Ibarra, who works at a Wichita restaurant. She used to work full time, she said, but her hours recently were cut in half. "I don't get child support or anything, so I need this."

Pinaire, the pantry director, greeted people with hugs and a smile as she directed crowds. Volunteers from area churches and other groups helped bag turnips, sort cans, distribute desserts and carry boxes of food.

"This is a great opportunity to talk to people and see what's really happening in the world," said Courtney Gillespie, 17, who volunteered with a youth group from Pleasantview Baptist Church in Derby.

"It's a great thing on Thanksgiving... and it makes you really grateful for the things you have."

Johnson, who lined up before 5:30 a.m. for the food giveaway, got her turkey and other food about four hours later. She smiled and said, "God bless you" as volunteers loaded potatoes, turnips and a caramel apple pie into her box.

"This is so very kind," she said. "There's a lot of people out there who need help, so it's great this is here."

Contributing: Washington Post Reach Suzanne Perez Tobias at 316-268-6567 or stobias@wichitaeagle.com.