Food Banks in Northeast Oklahoma Turn Down the Needy, Hungry

Paying your own bills? Living on next to nothing? Can't afford to buy food? If you live in NE Oklahoma, you might be out of luck, left to scrounge for food. Thanks to inaccurate and outdated poverty guidelines, countless families are turned down at area food banks.

What would you do if you suddenly found yourself without a job, with less income, or facing a medical or personal emergency? Would you have enough money saved to take care of all of your needs? Would your continuing income, if one exists, be sufficient to pay for your most basic needs? For many people across our nation today, the answer to these questions is a resounding "No!"

You may be shocked to discover that need does not automatically qualify someone for assistance thru a food bank or emergency relief service. In fact, many of these services have strict income guidelines, usually set below the poverty line, which every potential "client" must meet before help is offered or rendered. In most cases, circumstances are not considered, nor are emergency expenses. Likewise, it does not matter if the prospective client is receiving food stamp benefits, Indian commodities, subsidized housing, utility assistance, or any other sort of assistance from any source. What matters to these food banks is how much cold hard cash, and cash alone, is received into the home every month.

I recently traveled to a local food bank in order to meet a few of the "typical" food assistance clients. While quietly observing patrons in the waiting area, it quickly became apparent that people were being turned down, not because the food bank was out of food, but because they were too wealthy.

Jennifer N. (not her true name), a mother of 2 and wife of a disabled man, was one of these patrons who walked away empty handed. I made polite conversation with her outside as she corralled her two young children into her late model vehicle. Jennifer told to me that she and her family are barely making ends meet but cannot afford to buy food. "He (her husband) was recently diagnosed with a debilitating, continually degenerative illness and can't work," she explains. "And I can't work because I'm always home helping him, except just now, because I was trying to find some food. I guess we'll continue doing without for awhile."

One of her children, a boy about 4 years of age, continuously expressed a feeling of hunger to his mother, to which she could only reply, "I know honey. I know."

Sadly, Jennifer's story is not unique, nor is her experiences at the food bank atypical.

To satisfy my curiosity as to the income requirements, if any were in existence, for people to get assistance at food banks in NE Oklahoma, I spent many hours calling a list of 25 different agencies over the course of 10 days. This list was obtained from the official website for the Community Food Bank of Eastern Oklahoma, a leading non-profit organization providing emergency food to food banks in the greater NE Oklahoma region. All but two of the contacted agencies indicated that potential emergency food recipients must meet strict financial guidelines, which was always at or below the federal poverty guideline. Of the two which did not make these demands, one stated that the income could only be a small percentage above the poverty line, while the other required clients to prove need. None of the agencies allowed someone to come and ask for food without showing proof of residency, usually by having a utility bill in one's name. In addition, all of the agencies required a specific length of time between visits, anywhere from 1 to 3 months. 19 agencies also required the disclosure and showing of social security cards for every person in the household, regardless of age.

Thinking back to my visit to our local food bank, I recall hearing people verbally disclosing social security numbers, birthdates, mailing addresses, places of employment (if any), and other personal information. I suppose that when one is doing without food, concern for identity protection fly out the window.

As Jennifer left the parking lot, her face drawn down and worrisome, I couldn't help but wonder how many other people were out there, sincerely in need, but turned down for assistance at their own area food banks. Walking back inside the observed food bank and collecting my notepad, yet another woman, this time elderly, was also receiving the bad news. "I'm sorry, ma'am," said the food bank worker to the elderly woman, "but because your son has started living with you, we have to count his income too." (to the woman's protests) "Yes, we understand that you need him there to help take care of your needs, but we have to count all income in the home, not just yours." A few minutes later, she walked out empty handed.

I scribbled a few final notes and decided to leave. As I stood just outside the main doors a couple of young women came out, pushing two rather large shopping cart full of food, laughing and discussing their plans for the day.

"So do you want to go to ******* action?" (another food bank in the area)

"Yeah, that sounds good. You going?"

"Yeah, if you do. Might as well, huh?"

The young women wheeled their carts past the elderly woman, who was slowly shuffling her feet down the sidewalk. They had been standing in line beside the woman, heard her story, and knew she had been turned away. They did not give her a second glance.

As they loaded the massive amount of groceries into their one vehicle (apparently they shared a ride), I heard one say to the other, "Hey, you know what? Now I can use my food stamps to get some good stuff."

"Oh yeah? How much food stamps are you getting now?"

"Well they were going to raise it, so I don't know for sure. But last month I got $675."

I wouldn't wish to engage in judgment or point fingers, but it seems to me that the food banks might want to reconsider their methods for determining food assistance eligibility.

Sources:

Official website for the Community Food Bank of Eastern Oklahoma
Personal observations at an area food bank
Phone calls to 25 food banks in NE Oklahoma