‘Scary times' as more ask for help to eat

McALLEN — If there were a hunger index, it would be at an all-time high.

As stock market indexes like the Dow Jones industrial average have plummeted, the number of Americans seeking help to stave off hunger is skyrocketing.

The number of food stamp recipients in Texas has gone up almost 25 percent in the past year, but the line of those seeking help doesn't stop at the government benefits office.

At the Food Bank of the Rio Grande Valley, the number of families seeking assistance for the first time has gone up 45 percent in the past three months.

That means about 3,000 new families have shown up needing help the past three months, said Terri Drefke, the executive director of the food bank. Layoffs and rising food prices are the oft-cited reasons for needing help.

"We've never seen that kind of increase before in the history of the food bank," Drefke said. "It's basically scary times."

More than 11 percent of Texas residents who are on food stamps - now called the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program - even though many more low-income families are eligible for the program.

Texas had 2,354,116 residents receiving food stamps last December on their Lone Star card; now it has 2,931,244.

Over the past two years, the state has averaged about 2.3 million residents receiving benefits.

While the Rio Grande Valley has not seen as large an increase in the past year as those counties hit hard by Ike, the number of recipients is up at least 12 percent in each of the Valley counties in the past year.

Stephanie Goodman, a spokeswoman with the Texas Health and Human Services Commission, said the federal government made changes to the program in October to lower income requirements and make even more Texans eligible for the program.

A family of four earning up to $2,915 a month can now qualify for food stamps, Goodman said. The benefit amounts were also increased in October - in the program's annual inflation adjustment- so families already on the program are receiving larger benefits.

The average benefit amount in Texas is $278 per family per month in December 2008, up from $247 in December 2007.

The maximum food stamp benefit for a family of four in Texas is $588 a month.

At the food bank, there are no income requirements beyond demonstrating need.

While the food bank has seen its biggest increases in families seeking first-time assistance, Drefke said, she expects some of those families will need regular assistance until the parents are able to find work or food costs lower.

Drefke said she has seen more need in the past few months than at any other time in her 15 years at the helm of the food bank.

Donations are up as usual for the holiday period, she said, but she worries whether they'll be able to keep up with need.

"We've got food in half of the warehouse," Drefke said. "It's going out faster than it's coming in."

Jared Janes covers Hidalgo County government and general assignments for The Monitor. He can be reached at (956) 683-4424.