THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, September 25, 1994 TAG: 9409230269
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 04 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY KIRSTEN SORTON, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 101 lines
A line of about 100 people snakes around the corner of the Open Door Chapel and runs into the parking lot, which is crowded with cars. Every age group, race and nationality seems to be represented in the line.
Mothers watch as their children run around senior citizen couples, men in baseball hats, women in skirts and a man in a naval uniform.
The line resembles any found in a grocery store except for its size and that the people are not waiting to buy food but to pick it up for free, courtesy of their government.
One mother stands waiting with her preschooler.
``When you need flour, cornmeal and apple juice, the distribution helps a lot. He likes the apple juice,'' she says, looking at her son.
The woman is one of thousands of local residents who showed up Wednesday and Thursday at the church to collect the handouts, offered four times each year through the U.S. Department of Agriculture's surplus commodities program.
Brenda Whitaker, commodities coordinator for the Virginia Beach Social Services office, had hoped to reach as many individuals as they did with the May distribution when 8,664 individuals passed through the lines.
The amount of food each household receives depends on the size. A household of four, for example, will receive four pounds of butter, one package of cornmeal, one bag of rice, and two containers each of green beans, canned pears, peanut butter, apple sauce and apple juice.
People can receive the food if they already receive food stamps or if they meet certain income guidelines set up by social services.
Most recipients work full-time or part-time jobs but find it difficult to cover all their expenses. They say the distribution makes it easier for them to feed their families.
Two women showed up Tuesday morning hoping to pick up their food a day early. One, a 65-year-old grandmother who has custody of her four grandchildren, sat in a folding chair near the door where volunteers were bringing in food. On the ground next to her sat a divorced mother of a 14-year-old who was working part time and going to school. Both women expressed how difficult it was to make ends meet.
``Food stamps are not enough. Anything to help us,'' said the grandmother.
The younger woman nodded in agreement.
``It don't take long to get rid of them,'' she said.
Both women asked not to be identified. The younger woman described how her daughter was embarrassed about getting lunches from the reduced lunch line at school and insisted on going through the normal lunch line, which cost her mother more money.
The grandmother said she experienced the same thing with her grandchildren, who range in age from 8 to 18.
Sandy Gravlee stood on the curb Wednesday morning beside a box full of canned goods and bags. She had come to the distribution to pick up food for her friend. The friend, she explained, is a divorced mother of four who works full time and receives no child support. The $5.25 hourly salary the mother receives barely covers her rent and living expenses.
Gravlee, like the others, supports the program.
``I think it is nice. I wish they had had it when I had my kids. It would have helped a lot,'' Gravlee said.
While the food is donated for the program, much of the labor is, too.
The distribution depends on volunteers from social services and workers from the Louise W. Eggleston Center. Social Services has 15 volunteers who spend eight to 32 hours of their time helping at the distributions or sending letters to inform eligible households of the program. The Louise W. Eggleston Center hires people from the Hospitality House in Norfolk and another organization in Portsmouth to unload, bag and distribute the food.
Whitaker, who oversees the social services volunteers, has directed the program for the last year. She has witnessed many scenes that show her how much the program means to people. One particular incident occurred at the distribution in January.
``We had record cold temperatures,'' Whitaker recalled. ``The recipients had lined up in the cold at 7 even though the doors did not open until 9:30. That's when you realize that this is a worthwhile program.''
Food was not the only thing being distributed at the chapel.
Brenda McCormick, executive director of Mothers Inc., an advocacy group for the homeless, and three volunteers were circulating a petition and fliers about the ``25/75 Plan'' for reforming welfare. The 25/75 Plan states that mothers who return to work should not be penalized, but should retain the 25 percent cost of living that welfare supplies while they try to earn the other 75 percent on their own. When the mothers start earning more, the welfare support is reduced gradually until they are self supporting.
After McCormick reaches her goal of 2,000 signatures, she plans to send the petition to Gov. George Allen. McCormick said she hopes the petitions will pressure the governor into looking at the plan.
``People need hope. They don't need to see more government programs that won't work,'' McCormick said. MEMO: If you are interested in volunteering for the distribution or any other
social service program, call Misty Lee, volunteer coordinator at Social
Services, at 431-3214. If you think you might be eligible for future
commodities distributions, call 486-7223. ILLUSTRATION: Photo by KIRSTEN SORTON
Volunteer Curtis Reed packs a bag of groceries at The Open Door
Chapel.
by CNB