More than 40 percent of all Washington County households needed food from a pantry or food bank in 2009, due at least in part to the downturn in the nation's economy.
That's up more than 12 percent from just two years ago, when 15,504 Washington County households, out of a total 51,190, needed that same assistance, according to "Hunger in America 2010."
The new national survey linking the recent economic downturn and the need for emergency food assistance paints a picture so stark that those who work for food banks hope it will spur the government to ratchet up its efforts to stabilize the economy.
"These families are not wanting handouts; they have pride," said Marilyn Sloan, food bank manager with Hocking-Athens-Perry Southeast Ohio Foodbank, Community Action, which serves Washington County food banks. "It's hard for some of these families to open up and tell you what's going on. (But) what we've found is (the number of people needing food assistance) is skyrocketing now."
Though Washington County's need for food assistance has gone up dramatically, it's hardly a lot compared to nearby counties like Athens and Jackson. The 22,152 Washington County households that needed food assistance in 2009 used 530,776 pounds of food. In Athens, Sloan said, 29,000 households used 1.1 million pounds of food, while Jackson County's 31,000 households needed 12.73 million pounds of food.
The statistics in the survey cover only emergency assistance provided by food banks, pantries and similar agencies. They do not include help from the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly known as the Food Stamp program.
Sharon Miller, of 2 Neff Place, in Devola, said the number of Washington County households needing food assistance in 2009 was higher than she would have thought but not totally unexpected.
"I'm not really surprised," she said. "I am, but I'm not. It's a little surprising it's that high, but things are really rough out there right now."
That increase in need is something Jo Teters, co-director of the Beverly-Waterford Food Pantry, witnessed in January.
"It's a substantial (increase)," she said. "Usually January is our slow month, but we've probably broken all records for January for our pantry."
The numbers for how many people used the service in January weren't immediately accessible. But Teters said it would have been difficult to meet the need without the support from the Beverly-Waterford community in the form of donated food.
"Our community supports us so well that when our numbers go up it seems like our contributions do too," she said, adding that the food supply from the Logan Second Harvest Food Bank has dried up recently due to funding cuts.
Beata Gustin, a volunteer at the Belpre Food Pantry, said food assistance needs have gone up there in recent months.
"Belpre has been hard hit," she said. "We have had an increase in people, and it has to do with the layoffs and the tough economy."
Judy Gilham, co-director of the Lowell Food Pantry & Thrift Shop, said she's seen a 15 to 20 percent increase in the number of people coming to the pantry for food assistance and at times it's hard to meet all the needs of those in the community.
"There's a regular basis that we have a new family that had never been there before," she said. "The funding's been cut, as far as the amount of stuff we can get from the food bank in Logan. We're trying as best as we can to meet the needs. When we have more, we give more, and when we don't have quite as much, we don't give as much."
Typically, food assistance consists of a five- to seven-day supply of food, including cereal, noodles, Hamburger Helper, canned fruits and vegetables - stuff to make a complete meal, Gilham said.
The Community Food Pantry in Marietta has actually not seen a rise in demand recently, something that surprised Scott Britton, the pantry's director. He attributes at least part of the steady numbers to a shift in population.
"A lot of the regular clients that we've served haven't been coming," Britton said. "We've seen a lot of new people."
Britton said some of the regular clients may have moved to other parts of the county, contributing to the rises those pantries are experiencing.
Sloan said the Hunger in America study was done to educate national, state and local politicians and community leaders about how the economic downturn has affected even the most basic of human needs on a level so widespread that nearly everyone has been affected or knows someone who has.
"We want to show (Gov. Ted Strickland) that people are wanting to get back to work. It doesn't matter if it's the coal mines, to get them up again, or on the railroad, to get Amtraks. Any of them are jobs, especially in southeast Ohio," she said. "We need to send this to our president because he's promising us jobs. We need to open his eyes that this can't wait much longer. People are losing their homes and they're losing their cars. We need to get people stabilized again so they can pay their bills."
The national study was based on in-person interviews with more than 62,000 clients served by the Feeding America national network, as well as completed questionnaires from more than 37,000 Feeding America agencies.
A report from the study of clients and agencies served by The Second Harvest Food Bank of Southeastern Ohio was also released, showing just how deep the economy has affected the wallets of people in southeast Ohio.
To qualify for food assistance, Sloan said, a family of two would have had to be within 200 percent of the poverty guidelines. That means a family of two could make $1,011 a month and qualify for help through the food bank and pantry network.
"Some people say, "$1,011 a month? But if you take some people in the area, they pay rent of $500 and then the next thing is utilities - telephone, gas and electric average about $200. So now you're down to $311 and that does not include insurance for health, insurance for vehicles; if you're working, gasoline to get back and forth. It doesn't include babysitting, and then, the most important thing, it doesn't include all the food they need," Sloan said. "So when you start deducting those out you'll see where families have to make tough choices."
