High demand for HACAP food pantry

Washington County HACAP is experiencing a high demand for the food in its food pantry. Washington County HACAP Operations Manager RenElla Crawford said many of the people who come to HACAP are unemployed, and a growing number of them are over 55 years old.

?We?re seen more people that we haven?t seen before,? said Crawford.

Crawford said she often refers the applicants for the food pantry to federal food stamps.

?A lot of people don?t think they qualify for food stamps, but when they fill out our form, we realize by looking at it, ?Yeah, you?ll qualify for food stamps,?? said Crawford. ?I think the guidelines for food stamps have risen a little bit.?

The employees of Washington County HACAP hand out information about food stamps to their clients, such as what qualifies them for assistance. According to information supplied by the Iowa Food Bank Association, a single person whose monthly income is $1,444 or less is eligible for food stamps. For each additional person in the family, the income limit rises by about $500. Crawford said it has been easier to qualify for food stamps since the guidelines changed in January.

?Over the summer months, there were a couple times we were really close to running out,? said Crawford. ?I?m sure unemployment has a lot to do with it. For families, their food dollars are not stretching as they want it to.?

When HACAP is running low on food, it calls local charities to inform them of the problem. Crawford said many churches rise to the occasion and give generously.

?Not only are we seeing more people use the pantry, we?re seeing more elderly use it,? she said. ?They?re using their money to pay the bills and have no money left over for food. Many of them receive food stamps, but the elderly seem to get such a small number of food stamps. You ask them if they?re receiving food stamps and they say, ?Yeah, $25.? It?s not enough to feed them.?

Crawford said she sees people whose unemployment compensation has run out.

?We see a lot of disabled people, a lot of elderly and a lot of single-parent families,? said Crawford.

Crawford said she understands that food stamps were not designed to cover the full cost of groceries, but she said that for some families, food stamps are all they have.

A program related to the food pantry that HACAP has done for the past two years is ?Operation Backpack.? The program gives needy children at Stewart Elementary a backpack full of food over the weekend during the school year. Crawford said that program has been a success and that HACAP plans to continue it this school year.

Teachers are those who decide if a child is at risk of hunger. The teacher then gives the name of the child to HACAP. Crawford said she would like to expand the program to cover more children, but there isn?t enough food. She said another problem is that there needs to be more people to transport the food to Stewart Elementary once it?s packed by students at St. James Elementary.

HACAP is also involved in a back-to-school program to provide children with school supplies. Parents are asked to pick up a list of supplies from the school and then a HACAP employee will assist the parents in purchasing those items at a store.

?We?re taking them shopping, so to speak,? said Crawford.