Paula Moreno (left), 81, and Casey Santana, 72, receive bags of food at the Sister Evelyn Mourey Center in El Centro on Friday. (JOSELITO VILLERO) |
Carrying the haunted look of a man who has lived under the grip of poverty, Mario Prieto voluntarily spends his time bagging monthly surplus food items for the needy at a local distribution site off Pico Avenue.
A tall heavy-set man with a gentle demeanor and a wistful smile, Prieto moved to El Centro two years ago after being laid off from his job at a Wal-Mart department store in Palm Springs, he said.
While having to care for his ill mother for a time, Prieto explained, the recession has virtually drained any hope of seeking greener pastures in the Imperial Valley, an area with the dubious distinction of having among the highest unemployment rates in the nation.
In spite of his trying situation, Prieto, 42, hasn’t given up. Instead, he summons enough courage to believe that things could get better even though he’s “already gotten used to it.”
“It’s hard but you move on. You got to keep going,” Prieto said. “It’s a struggle. It’s a constant struggle, but I’m faithful that I’ll find work. The economy is bad right now.”
Prieto would not be alone in that assessment as the growing number of Imperial County residents lives with the uncertainty of not knowing where their next meal is coming from in the midst of hard economic times.
Complicating matters further is how Congress is considering proposals that would cut federal food assistance programs that relief organizations like the Imperial Valley Food Bank rely on.
FOOD INSECURITY
With a whopping 31.4 percent of people here living under what Imperial Valley Food Bank Executive Director Sara Griffen terms “food insecurity,” the prospect of cutting the federal nutrition safety net that serves low-income seniors, pregnant or nursing women, infants and children nationwide would place an already heavy burden on local emergency food outlets that were intended to provide short-term relief to hungry people.
Scaling back on congressional support of local food banks would only push more people to seek food assistance to local charities, Griffen said in a recent letter seeking advocacy of the I.V. Food Bank, which recently celebrated its 20th year in existence.
“Not only will our food bank be unable to meet the increased demand for food assistance if these cuts to nutrition programs go through,” she said, “we will have to reduce current levels of support for existing clients.”
STRETCHED THIN
The I.V. Food Bank, the only food depository in the Imperial Valley, is already stretched thin by serving more than an estimated 20,000 people a month, Griffen said.
The rising demand for food assistance here is evidenced by how the number of people needing such has risen 300 percent during the past three years, Griffen said.
In January 2008 the I.V. Food Bank served 7,221 people, but during this past January the number of hungry people seeking assistance swelled to 21,043, according to food bank statistics.
FOOD STAMPS?
Food stamps are imperiled as well as a proposal from the Republican-controlled House of Representatives seeks to convert the program into a block grant that is estimated to reduce federal food stamp spending by $127 billion over a 10-year period.
But hunger relief advocates fear that if enacted, the House proposal would slash the number of people aided by food stamps by as much as two-thirds or more, according to Legal Momentum, a legal defense and education fund geared for the advancement of women and girls.
Roughly half of those households in the nation that rely on food stamps consist of more than 20 million low-income households with children, many of which are headed by single mothers, Legal Momentum reported.
If enacted, the impact would deal a crippling blow to needy families here locally, said Alba Sanchez, food stamp outreach coordinator with the I.V. Food Bank.
“If that happens it would be devastating,” Sanchez said. “The food stamp program would lose its ability to respond economically. We’re hoping it doesn’t go through.”
Correspondence or donations can be mailed to Imperial Valley Food Bank, P.O Box 4406, El Centro, CA 92244
Staff Writer Silvio J. Panta can be reached at 760-337-3442 or at spanta@ivpressonline.com
A tall heavy-set man with a gentle demeanor and a wistful smile, Prieto moved to El Centro two years ago after being laid off from his job at a Wal-Mart department store in Palm Springs, he said.
While having to care for his ill mother for a time, Prieto explained, the recession has virtually drained any hope of seeking greener pastures in the Imperial Valley, an area with the dubious distinction of having among the highest unemployment rates in the nation.
In spite of his trying situation, Prieto, 42, hasn’t given up. Instead, he summons enough courage to believe that things could get better even though he’s “already gotten used to it.”
“It’s hard but you move on. You got to keep going,” Prieto said. “It’s a struggle. It’s a constant struggle, but I’m faithful that I’ll find work. The economy is bad right now.”
Prieto would not be alone in that assessment as the growing number of Imperial County residents lives with the uncertainty of not knowing where their next meal is coming from in the midst of hard economic times.
Complicating matters further is how Congress is considering proposals that would cut federal food assistance programs that relief organizations like the Imperial Valley Food Bank rely on.
FOOD INSECURITY
With a whopping 31.4 percent of people here living under what Imperial Valley Food Bank Executive Director Sara Griffen terms “food insecurity,” the prospect of cutting the federal nutrition safety net that serves low-income seniors, pregnant or nursing women, infants and children nationwide would place an already heavy burden on local emergency food outlets that were intended to provide short-term relief to hungry people.
Scaling back on congressional support of local food banks would only push more people to seek food assistance to local charities, Griffen said in a recent letter seeking advocacy of the I.V. Food Bank, which recently celebrated its 20th year in existence.
“Not only will our food bank be unable to meet the increased demand for food assistance if these cuts to nutrition programs go through,” she said, “we will have to reduce current levels of support for existing clients.”
STRETCHED THIN
The I.V. Food Bank, the only food depository in the Imperial Valley, is already stretched thin by serving more than an estimated 20,000 people a month, Griffen said.
The rising demand for food assistance here is evidenced by how the number of people needing such has risen 300 percent during the past three years, Griffen said.
In January 2008 the I.V. Food Bank served 7,221 people, but during this past January the number of hungry people seeking assistance swelled to 21,043, according to food bank statistics.
FOOD STAMPS?
Food stamps are imperiled as well as a proposal from the Republican-controlled House of Representatives seeks to convert the program into a block grant that is estimated to reduce federal food stamp spending by $127 billion over a 10-year period.
But hunger relief advocates fear that if enacted, the House proposal would slash the number of people aided by food stamps by as much as two-thirds or more, according to Legal Momentum, a legal defense and education fund geared for the advancement of women and girls.
Roughly half of those households in the nation that rely on food stamps consist of more than 20 million low-income households with children, many of which are headed by single mothers, Legal Momentum reported.
If enacted, the impact would deal a crippling blow to needy families here locally, said Alba Sanchez, food stamp outreach coordinator with the I.V. Food Bank.
“If that happens it would be devastating,” Sanchez said. “The food stamp program would lose its ability to respond economically. We’re hoping it doesn’t go through.”
Correspondence or donations can be mailed to Imperial Valley Food Bank, P.O Box 4406, El Centro, CA 92244
Staff Writer Silvio J. Panta can be reached at 760-337-3442 or at spanta@ivpressonline.com
