Portage County organizations work to feed the hungry

For Karen Carpenter, feeding herself, her husband and her grandson is no easy task.

Carpenter, 65, lives in Freedom Township, Portage County, with her husband and her grandson. She’s been on disability for 13 years from a bad back that makes her unable to hold a full-time job, and her diabetic husband is recovering from an invasive heart surgery.

“It’s hard with limited income to buy school clothes and school supplies, and different things he needs, then turn around and buy groceries,” she said.

The couple receives assistance in the form of disability checks and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits, commonly known as food stamps, but she said it’s not enough.

“(The government) says, ‘we’re not giving you the food stamps to help you get ahead. We’re giving you the food stamps just to survive,’” she said. “And that’s basically what we’re doing.”

Carpenter’s experience is not uncommon. While most households in the United States are “food secure,” meaning the household has access to enough food for an active, healthy life for all household members, many are not as adequately nourished.

The Department of Agriculture reports that 12.3 percent (15.6 million) of U.S. households were food insecure, or lacking access to sufficient food, at some time during 2016. In Portage County, that number rises to 14.8 percent, or 23,930 individuals. Of Portage County’s children, 21.7 percent are food insecure.

Portage County residents make up 13,544 of Ohio’s 1,608,633 people who receive food stamps each month, funded by general tax revenue.

However, a study by nonprofit research organization The Urban Institute showed the average SNAP benefit doesn’t even cover the cost of a low-income meal. Nationally, a low-cost meal adds up to $2.36, while SNAP recipients receiving the maximum benefit are only awarded $1.86 for each meal.

KelliJo Jeffries, director of Portage County’s Job and Family Services, oversees public assistance for the county and said she tries to treat everyone she serves with respect and dignity and encourages her community to do the same.

While Jeffries advises people receiving SNAP benefits to budget their money and shop at low-cost stores, many recipients find themselves drained of resources or living on one meal a day toward the end of the month.

“It’s more than just an individual effort,” she said. “You can buy food, like seeds and certain things to grow on your own. I think that if we as a community had more efforts to grow and sell more locally natural foods that food stamps can be used for… I think those are great options.”

Jeffries said she wants people to know that food stamps are not being abused, and that the people receiving them are often in desperate need. 

Justin Bart, a core officer for the Salvation Army in Ravenna, said he’s trying to help bridge that gap by organizing Tuesday and Thursday food drives and coordinating with The Akron/Canton Food Bank to provide meals to Portage County.

“The demand is very high,” he said.

Once a month, residents can come and receive a box full of a week’s worth of food from the organization’s food pantry, which includes canned tuna and chicken, canned vegetables and fruit, crackers and cereal, among other items. The only requirement is proof of residence in the county and an ID.

“That costs a whole lot less than food stamps do, and it goes a whole lot further,” Bart said.

Additionally, the Salvation Army funds a food pantry in Windham at the Renaissance Family Center, where Carpenter receives produce and other foods to make up for what her food stamps can’t afford.

“I don’t think we’d make it if they weren’t here each month,” Carpenter said.

Seniors receiving SNAP benefits can fill in the gap with Mobile Meals, an organization that delivers nutritiously balanced meals to the elderly and disabled, said Dana Downing, president of the company. Each meal is $7.25, which includes delivery to one’s home, but the organization has funding set aside for those who can’t fully afford it.

“If they can only afford $3 a meal, then the remaining $4.25 will get written off to a foundation funding source that we raise money for,” he said.

Kathryn Wilson, economics professor at Kent State University, said the United States could provide more SNAP benefits if it cut back on defense spending or increased taxes, noting that the US has one of the lowest taxes compared to other industrialized nations.

“If we wanted to have higher taxes, we’d have more money to do these social programs more broadly,” she said. “And that’s a lot of what you see in Europe. You don’t see the same child poverty, you don’t see the same food insecurity you see in the United States.”

Wilson said people often have a misconception about how much money is really provided under SNAP benefits, and they assume that recipients are using the money to buy filet mignon or other pricey items.

“I don’t think we ever know the stories or what the circumstances are when we just see someone in the grocery store,” she said. “Even something like buying chips or stuff like that — I think there’s a sense of judgment around. Like, should they be using it to buy chips? And then I look down at everybody else’s carts and pretty much everybody has chips.”

Wilson volunteers for the “Lord’s Lunch” at Trinity Lutheran Church in Kent on some Saturdays, serving free lunch to those who need it — a service that Downing, Jeffries and Bart agree is an important part in reducing food insecurity.

“I love doing it,” Wilson said. “I love the community aspect of it and when you do it time after time, you get to know the people who are coming through a bit. I always leave feeling like I wish I could do more.”

There’s more Portage County residents who are hungry than one might think. Story to come – taking a look at the statistics and outlining what resources are available for those in need. #jmcrpp

— Emma Keating (@Emma_M_Keating) March 15, 2018

Find out tonight the many ways that Portage County is combating food insecurity. #jmcrpp

— Steven Geer (@StevenEGeer) March 15, 2018