Lined Up -- But Not to Vote

There was plenty of media commentary yesterday about the long lines that formed at polling stations around the country.

However, there have also been lots of other queues springing up in far-flung corners of the U.S. in recent months that have nothing to do with choosing our leadership -- and which don't seem to have gotten the same degree of saturation coverage.

More and more, Americans of all stripes are lining up in search of places to live, for jobs and other income-earning opportunities, and for what is supposed to be temporary assistance -- unemployment insurance, food stamps and welfare.

In addition, growing numbers of individuals and families are apparently queuing up in a desperate attempt to satisfy more basic needs. A Cincinnati Enquirer report, "Increasing Needs, Falling Gifts Have Food Pantries Worried," highlights a sobering trend. 

People were lined up on Taylor Avenue when Judy Jackson opened the doors Tuesday morning.

They weren't waiting to vote.

The small crowd was lined up outside the Oakley Community Food Pantry to pick up staples like bread and canned fruit and vegetables.

At the St. Vincent de Paul Society's food pantry on Bank Street, some shelves are almost bare. The storage room is just about empty.

With just three weeks to go before Thanksgiving, area food pantries report that requests for help are up while donations of food and cash are down.

"There's more people standing in food pantry lines for the first time in their lives because of the economy and all the foreclosures," said Tina Osso, executive director of the Shared Harvest Foodbank in Fairfield. "It only follows that more people are going to need help for all the extra meals around the holidays."

Organizations wonder whether they'll be able to feed needy families.

"We are extremely concerned about what Thanksgiving and Christmas are going to bring," said Liz Carter, executive director of the St. Vincent de Paul Society. "Last year, the end of the day came for our Thanksgiving distribution, and we had, like, three turkeys left. I'm very concerned that this year, the end of the day will come and we'll have a line of people and nothing to give them."

Normally, the agency distributes Thanksgiving dinner fixings to 400 people. "We think the need is going to be much bigger this year than it ever has been before," Carter said.

Carter and others blamed the poor economy.

In Butler County, the number of families seeking help through the Holiday Community Project has increased steadily since 2006, Osso said.

This year, 1,056 families have registered for Thanksgiving meals, compared to 942 in 2007 and 883 in 2006, Osso said.

Registration is still going on for help with Christmas food and gifts, and Osso expects to see those numbers increase as well.

The campaign has raised about $72,000 for food and gifts, but it needs another $82,000 to meet the requests filed so far.

At the FreestoreFoodbank, requests for help have increased about 55 percent over the last three years, said Brian MacConnell, an agency spokesman.

In 2005, the food bank fed 72,142 people, he said, while last year, it fed 111,968.

"We're going to outpace that this year," MacConnell said. "We can see it already."

Donations haven't kept up, he said, although donors have been "generous."

As far as Thanksgiving dinners, MacConnell said, in 2005, the Freestore distributed 4,822 dinners that fed 14,752 people.

Last year, the Freestore gave away 5,875 dinners to feed 19,434 people. MacConnell expects a 10 to 15 percent increase this year, he said.

MacConnell and Gail Koford at Inter Parish Ministry in Newtown said they're seeing an increase in first-time clients.

"We're seeing people who have not been our clients before. We're seeing people who have maybe two-income families who haven't needed to come to us before," MacConnell said. "It's tough out there."

Jackson said her pantry is serving about 35 families a week, up about a fourth from last year.

"And it's families, not just individuals. A couple years ago, it was a lot of singles, but now we're getting families. They just can't stretch the budget any further," she said.

Comments

[roger]

welcome back to the real world,I voted for Obama but I fear for the future,
83 years of experience tells me that there are very dark clouds on the horizon

[dearieme]

Her Majesty enquires:-
"The Queen spoke for the nation yesterday when she asked how the credit crunch could have taken so many economics experts by surprise.

She described the financial crisis as 'awful' and inquired that, since the meltdown was so massive, 'Why did nobody notice it?'

The royal concern was revealed at the London School of Economics, where she opened its £71 million New Academic Building.

Professor Luis Garicano, director of research at the LSE's management department, said: 'The Queen asked me, "If these things were so large, how come everyone missed them?".'

[roger]

I'm not Professor Luis Garicano,but my answer to the QUEEN WOULD BE:
3 MAJOR FORCES negate positive thinking
1 if the POPE SAYS THE EARTH IS FLAT,THEN IT IS FLAT,if you where
programed to believe that at 5 years of age good chance you die
with that belief still in your head,2 desire to be right,these
people will gather only information that seems to confirm their
assessment.3 Paycheck:if your income depends on agreeing with
the bosses

[Abraham]

The hunger problem Is a terrible thing. I'm one of the common unwashed of the chattering class that didn't believe in the bailout, or at least as extensive as they've been. Imagine how some of that money spent to enrich stock prices and traders could have been used to reduce hunger. The dichotomy between bailing out people that wear shirts and ties to rob us and allowing those who are poor to go hungry is astounding. Food for the hungry or tax breaks and bailouts for those that need it least?

"Through primarily USDA and the Food and Nutrition Service, we have a robust annual budget for domestic nutrition assistance. In 2008, those amounts are estimated to be about $62.5 billion, and for 2009, about $66.6 billion."
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2008/05/20080501-23.html

And the total direct cost of all the various bailouts when all is said and done could be 30 times that. Yeah, I did the math.

Just a few days ago I remember seeing an article about hunger in Massachusetts:

"Associated Press - November 2, 2008 9:34 AM ET
BOSTON (AP) - An anti-hunger organization is reporting that more than half a million Massachusetts residents lack enough money to put nutritious food on the table.

Project Bread said more than 8% of the state's households could not afford to buy enough healthy food from 2004 to 2006, the most recent years for which statistics are available.

That's up from the 6% during the years between 2001 to 2003."
http://www.wten.com/Global/story.asp?S=9279461

Hold on tight, at some point this iceberg is going to roll.

[sysin3]

Dear Ms. Queenie,

Lots of smart people noticed it, years ago.

Apparently, you didn't read their books or blogs.

[Talking to myself]

I wonder how many of these people lining up for handouts are carrying cell phones and have 150 TV channels at home? Priorities. Ridding one's self of those two items would probably be a big help in meeting the cost of food. And then there is this incessant American need to be driving around all over the damned place and not stay home with their families. How much gas money would you save? Am I talking to myself out here in internet land? It always seems like it.
(I do sympathize with those who really do need help and haven't been living high on the hog and squandering their money foolishly.)

[farang]

When G.M.'s CEO comes calling at Treasury's door for a hand out, let's "make him an offer he can't refuse": "We will give you ten cents a share, and take over GM. Take it or leave it. We will employ the hungry, the needy, to build your "Volt" and also train them to build solar panels, with which to charge their new automobiles, reducing the need for imported carbon-based fuels, lessening the burden on power plants and best of all, reducing their need to spend their hard earned cash on fuel.... Or you can go bankrupt, and we will just nationalize G.M. Take it or lump it, your choice. You had your chance to build autos the public needs, but instead pissed your cash away doing things like lobbying Bush to remove the mileage requirements, to the point Bush gave tax breaks to those purchasing gas-guzzling SUV's.

Now go stand in line for a bite of turkey."

[Poor Boomer]

Talking to Myself said:

I wonder how many of these people lining up for handouts are carrying cell phones and have 150 TV channels at home?

I do, and I don't apologize for one second!

I have a prepaid cell phone - ditched my landline six months ago - which I use primarily for incoming calls (I try to save outgoing calls for times when I have free access to someone else's landline). My cell phone costs me $5 per month. ($5 is the minimum airtime I can add, unused minutes expire after 30 days unless more time/money is added, in which case unused minutes roll over. So there isn't any practical way to get my phone cost below $5 per month. Note that I never had a cell phone until I ditched my landline.

Also, I rent a room in a house with nine people. DirecTV (TM) is included in the rent, i.e. getting rid of it would save me zero dollars.

p.s. Here in Portland, the demand for Section 8 housing subsidies is so great that last fall, when they briefly reopened the waiting list after several years, a lottery was held to determine who got on the waiting list. Over 8,000 people competed for 3,000 positions on the waiting list. (I was not a winner.) It will most likely be several more years until the waiting list is reopened; many Section 8 vouchers are returned unused because even people with Section 8 vouchers cannot find Section 8 housing.

[Poor Boomer]

sysin3 said:

Dear Ms. Queenie,

Lots of smart people noticed it, years ago.

Apparently, you didn't read their books or blogs.

People didn't have blogs years ago.

[Poor Boomer]

sysin3 said:

Dear Ms. Queenie,

Lots of smart people noticed it, years ago.

Apparently, you didn't read their books or blogs.

People didn't have blogs years ago.