By Jenny Neyman, Redoubt Reporter
and Naomi Klouda, Homer Tribune
The number of people in need this season stands higher than in previous years, a growth documented through the increase in food stamp applications and those calling on local charities.
The central Kenai Peninsula saw a 47 percent rise in the average monthly caseload handled by the Alaska Division of Public Assistance for food stamps between July 2009 and July 2011. The area includes Clam Gulch, Kasilof, Kenai, Nikiski, Soldotna and Sterling.
That is over twice the amount of the state average, said Ronald Kreher, the director of the Public Assistance office in Juneau. On the whole, the state’s food stamp usage rose 17 percent over the past year, he said.
On the central peninsula, the average number of households per month seeking assistance rose from 1,168 in fiscal year 2009 to 1,714 in fiscal year 2011. The average monthly number of individuals served in the Kenai area went from 2,775 in fiscal year 2009 to 3,801 in fiscal year 2011, for a growth of 37 percent.
The southern peninsula — Homer, Anchor Point, Nanwalek, Nikolaevsk, Ninilchik, Port Graham and Seldovia — saw a 39 percent spike in the average monthly caseload handled by the Alaska Division of Public Assistance for food stamps between July 2009 and July 2011.
The number of Homer-area households rose from 421 in July 2009 to 544 in July 2010. By July 2011, the number was 586 households. The average number of individuals increased by 36 percent from 899 in 2009 to 1,227 in 2011.
Kreher looked at state averages over the past four years and saw a leap overall.
“We’ve seen steady growth over three-four years in public assistance needs. The most dramatic growth was over last two years,” he said.
In August of this year, 37,000 Alaska families were on food stamps, totaling about 92,000 individuals.
The signs of economic stress are showing up other places, as well.
On the central peninsula, the Kenai Peninsula Food Bank has seen an increase in clients.
“We’re seeing people that haven’t been in for several months or years coming in because they need our services now. Our mission is we feed people because no one deserves to be hungry,” said Linda Swarner, executive director of the food bank.
Swarner said that, through the end of October, the food bank saw an average of more than 700 families per month. That’s compared to a more-normal, 551-families-per-month average in 2006-07, Swarner said.
The food bank is enjoying its expanded freezer, cooler and warehouse space, but needs more donations to fill it up, especially for the holidays. Swarner said that the food bank needs donations for holiday meals, such as potatoes, stuffing mix, vegetables, fruit, hams and turkeys. Anyone bringing in a ham or turkey donation before Thanksgiving is entered into a raffle for two round-trip, Kenai-to-Anchorage tickets on Era and a hotel room for a night in Anchorage. Two more tickets will be raffled off for turkey or ham donations before Christmas.
There also are donation barrels in most financial institutions around the community, and people can donate money straight to the food bank’s account through their financial institution, or do so online at www.kpfoodbank.org. Swarner said the food bank also posts updates on current events on the organization’s Facebook page.
The holidays are a time when hunger particularly tugs at donors’ heartstrings, but the need isn’t limited just to November and December. Swarner said the food bank also needs donations beyond the holidays, particularly of protein items, such as peanut butter, canned meats and dried beans, and also rice and grains.
Fran Van Sandt, the Kachemak Bay Lions Club organizer for the annual Thanksgiving basket program in the Homer area, put out a call for more turkey donations last week after a record number of applicants signed up.
Last year the Lions Club gave away 156 baskets, actually boxes, filled with all the fixings to go with a Thanksgiving dinner, from the main attraction to fixings and pumpkin pie. This year, Van Sandt received 200 applications through regular channels, plus another 24 from the Veterans of Foreign Wars, and another batch from the Salvation Army. The baskets were given out at the First United Methodist Church on Saturday.
More people are in need this year than previous years.
“I don’t know what is going on,” Van Sandt said Thursday. “But I will need more turkeys since I only purchased 100.”
To fill the need, the community came through with some donations and the Lions paid for other turkeys, as well as cornish game hens to give out for the smaller families.
Diane Jeska, director of the Homer Community Food Pantry, said it’s difficult to measure needs in any given current year. At year’s end in 2011, however, the food pantry will have an idea of how many people it served. “Then we’ll know if the percentage is up or down. But to get an exact number — there are way too many variables in the hunger business,” Jeska said.
“We are always very dependent on the community and honestly our community is the best there is at helping others. We don’t even advertise anything for Thanksgiving or Christmas.”
Thanks to the Halloween event aboard the Haunted Hickory by the U.S. Coast Guard, and the Boys Scouts Troop 555, the food bank is many thousands of pounds richer. The Hickory brought in 2,000 pounds while the Scouts collected 444 pounds.
Members of the community also come on Mondays to drop off food items. For the first time, at the end of the year, Jeska will be able to pin an exact amount quantifying the community’s contribution.
“All year, we have been weighing everything bought in,” Jeska said.
The food pantry works with the Kachemak Bay Lions Club, Share the Spirit, Refuge Chapel and the Salvation Army to help make sure individuals and families do not fall through the cracks.
Social service agencies focus on families or single parents with children. But individuals in need also can call on the Homer Community Food Pantry to receive food items.
