THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, January 27, 1995 TAG: 9501260167
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 04 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY NANCY LEWIS, CORRESPONDENT
LENGTH: Medium: 85 lines
Hundreds of the city's poor weathered a winter drizzle last week to wait in line for free food at Open Door Chapel, only to learn that they can no longer count on the quarterly government handouts.
Most of those in line were women. Many had babies and toddlers perched on their hips or draped, bundled and asleep, over their shoulders. Small children huddled against their moms, waiting their turn to get staples.
The four-times-a-year food giveaway is slated to end in March because of a cutback in federal funds, and some are worried about how the program's termination will affect those who are already having a hard time.
Last Wednesday, 3,773 individuals - or 1,487 households - received government surplus commodities. Each got their ration of butter, peanut butter, cornmeal, rice and canned green beans and applesauce.
``No matter what the weather's like, they stand in line,'' said Brenda Whitaker, social services coordinator for the handout.
The total turnout for the two-day giveaway was somewhat lower than in the past, said Whitaker. But, then, there were fewer staple items to be doled out.
``Normally they would get nine items, but there's been a decrease in the food available,'' said Whitaker. And it's going to get worse, she said, pointing to a notice from the state ending the food distribution program as of March.
``It's like the safety net's being removed,'' said state food distribution supervisor Tom Nations.
Nations said that there is ``no cause for alarm yet. . . . I hope the needy will still get what they need.''
But for now, no more federal money will be available to buy food for the poor, said Nations, and that means ``no more mass distribution'' in Virginia.
After March, said Nations, families in need of food will have to go to local food closets and churches for help. U.S. Department of Agriculture foodstuffs left over after the March handout will be sent to the state's six Second Harvest food banks. Local food closets and churches will be able to draw on these supplies while they last.
The charitable groups also will have access to USDA Soup Kitchen foods for emergency help. ``There will still be foods coming in, it's just that the place changes,'' Nations said.
``We're trying to keep a system in place,'' said Nations. He could not estimate the dollar impact of the federal cutback.
``We're going to have some hungry people out there'' after March, said Whitaker, eyeing the long line waiting outside the chapel.
In line were people like 17-year-old Yvonne Curdt, who passed out coffee and doughnuts to those in line last Thursday before picking up her own free food.
Curdt, a high school dropout, works part time as a grocery store cashier, but what she makes isn't enough to pay the bills. And even with welfare, food stamps and Medicaid thrown in, Curdt can't make it. She lives alone in a trailer.
Curdt recently found out that she is pregnant. The father of her unborn child is in jail, but the couple plan to marry when he is done serving a sentence for driving while his license was suspended.
The young woman hopes to have a better job someday. She also hopes that she and her soon-to-be husband will move away, perhaps to Pennsylvania where they can have lots of space - a farm, perhaps, with horses and ``no neighbors.''
Curdt wants something better for her own child than what she sees around her. ``There are no yards here,'' she said. ``I see kids running out into the street because their parents don't want them.''
Curdt was raised by an aunt and uncle who adopted her at age 2. Her biological mother had five children and she never knew her real father.
While social services volunteers processed applications for the food giveaway Thursday, workers from the Louise W. Eggleston Center in Norfolk bagged the commodities. Volunteers had helped mail nearly 12,000 eligibility letters to the city's needy in preparation for the distribution. ILLUSTRATION: Photos by NANCY LEWIS
ABOVE: Emanuel Harris catches a few winks while his mother, Alisia
Criss, applies for free food. RIGHT: Gwendolyn Handley of Norfolk
will need another job after March when the federally funded food
distribution program ends. ``It's my only source of income,'' she
said.
by CNB