THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, March 26, 1995 TAG: 9503240235
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 08 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY NANCY LEWIS, CORRESPONDENT
LENGTH: Medium: 67 lines
Quentin Buckaus hoisted the backpack holding toddler son Keith a bit higher on his shoulders.
Buckaus was waiting to find out whether he and his wife and two young children qualified for free U.S. Department of Agriculture food Wednesday at Open Door Chapel.
The unemployed Buckaus was happy to learn that his family could indeed get a bag of free groceries. He was sorry to hear, though, that the March handout was the last in the 12-year-old program.
``Really?'' said Buckaus, when told that the program would end with this month's distribution. ``Bummer,'' he added.
Buckaus and his wife are both unemployed. They have two preschool children and also care for Buckaus' disabled mother, who resides with the couple. The family receives food stamps, but with two growing children and three adults in the house, the groceries just don't stretch far enough.
Gwendolyn Washington, who packed and handed out the bags of free groceries Wednesday, was also dismayed about the demise of the food distribution program. She works for the Eggleston Center of Norfolk.
``Yeah, I'll miss it,'' said Washington. ``I won't have any work, and I like serving the community.''
By 9 a.m. Wednesday, the line of people waiting for their free food stretched down the side and around the front of the Virginia Beach Boulevard chapel. Vehicles entering and leaving the parking lot were so numerous that police were needed to direct traffic.
Foods given away last week included butter, potatoes, pears, green beans, peanut butter, tomatoes, peaches and applesauce.
While some surplus food will still be available through food pantries run by local non-profit groups, needy residents no longer can count on the mass distributions that have been held four times each year in Hampton Roads cities for the past 12 years.
Supplies remaining after this month's distributions will go to the state's six Second Harvest food banks. Local food pantries will be able to use this supply to give families emergency help.
The federal program began in 1982 as part of what became known as the ``great Reagan cheese giveaway.''
At its peak, the program gave away up to 1 billion pounds of food each year to the nation's poor.
Then, in 1988, Congress passed the Hunger Prevention Act, which provided money for food subsidies through price support programs for farmers. The federal government bought up farmers' surpluses to stabilize prices, in the same stroke acquiring food to distribute through the food giveaway program.
But the Clinton administration proposed a significant cut in funds last year. Congress complied, keeping the administrative pipeline open so that if the government buys surplus food - on the market instead of from farmers directly - the network would still be in place to reach the poor.
About 50,000 Hampton Roads poor will be affected by the program's demise. ILLUSTRATION: Photo by NANCY LEWIS
Virginia Beach residents line up outside Open Door Chapel for the
final mass distribution of USDA food products - a 12-year-old
program.
KEYWORDS: SURPLUS FOOD by CNB