Hunger threatens more Onondaga County families as the economy falters, say county officials and advocates for food programs.
“We’re going to see a ripple effect,” said Mary Beth Frey, executive director of The Samaritan Center, which serves warm meals for the needy.
Frey and The Samaritan Center are part of the network of government and social service organizations that run programs to feed the hungry in Onondaga County. As the shrinking economy burdens the county and local plants shut their doors, the anti-hunger groups are bracing for what they fear may be that ripple effect. But, the advocates say, this region has is better off than others. And so far, they say, the bad economy has not trimmed their budgets and their ability to feed the hungry.
For example, the Food Bank of Central New York is a non-profit group that depends on donations and government funding. It supplies food to scores of soup kitchens and food pantries in 11 counties.
The group can still meet demands because it planned ahead and donations are still coming in, said Thomas Slater, its executive director. “The Central New York public,” said Slater, “has shared their resources with us — food and money.”
Other signs in Onondaga County point to the threat of hunger:
- Between July and Oct. 2007, the Food Bank delivered provisions for 1,017,000 meals in the county. That went up 11 percent to 1,142,000 for the same period in 2008.
- The number of households getting food stamps — the government food subsidy program for the poor — has risen 25 percent in the past year. The number grew from 17,161 households in January 2008 to 22,437 in January 2009, according to the Onondaga County Social Services Department.
- The number of end-of-the-month meals served at Assumption Food Pantry rose from about 350 per day last summer to 475 now, said Brother Joseph Freitag, the director. The monthly food stamps last about three weeks, he said, so people need more help toward the end of the month.
Still, Central New York is luckier than some areas, said Michele Jordan, executive director of the Interreligious Food Consortium. The group helps food pantries and soup kitchens in the region. Central New York has not had more symptoms of hunger, she said, because the area has not been affected as other areas by other forms of economic challenges.
For example, Jordan said, “We haven’t had the high foreclosure rate that other people have.”
Instead, she said, local woes hinge on layoffs. “We have the closing of Syracuse China and New Process Gear,” Jordan said.
At the Food Bank of Central York, newly unemployed workers are among the newcomers to food programs. “We’re finding that more and more people are getting laid off and are seeking help,” said Slater, the director. He predicts: “It’s absolutely going to get worse before it gets better.”
At The Samaritan Center, Frey, the director, is gearing up to cope with more hungry visitors. As the economy worsens, she said, “It will be more and more difficult for people to meet their needs.”
(Ricardo Ramírez is a graduate student in magazine-newspaper-online journalism. )
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