In South Jersey, growing need for food assistance

After being out of work for 10 years, Patti Trout has learned how to live on a frugal budget. Sometimes it means choosing between buying food and paying her bills.

Too often, Trout, 57, of Blackwood, puts groceries at the bottom of the list. She regularly visits a local food pantry to fill the void.

"It's not easy," Trout said as she waited Thursday at the food pantry operated by Cultivate Church in Voorhees. "You basically do what you have to do to get by."

She is among a growing number of hungry Americans, including working people, military members, children, and the elderly.

A survey released in August by Feeding America, the nation's largest hunger-relief organization, found one in seven Americans - 46.5 million people - received food from a Feeding America food bank. A report in 2010 found one in eight people, or 37 million, turning to the food bank.

In Burlington, Camden, and Gloucester Counties, the need for food assistance more than doubled over the four years between reports, the Hunger in America study found. At the same time, poverty levels have been stable.

The findings were not a surprise at the Food Bank of South Jersey, one of the regional pantries for Feeding America.

"Everybody talks about an economic recovery, but when you see that the need has increased so dramatically, you can't help but think that this recovery hasn't gone to everybody in South Jersey," said Tom Sims, chief development officer at the agency.

The Food Bank, through its network of emergency pantries and shelters, provided more than 10 million pounds of food to 196,300 people last year, compared with 93,400 people it had helped four years earlier.

The report showed hunger affects a diverse group in South Jersey: 36 percent of households had at least one person working within the last year, 23 percent include grandparents, and 20 percent have completed some college.

Six percent have a family member serving in the military.

Like Trout, many people reported making difficult trade-offs to feed their families. For example, 68 percent of respondents said they had to choose between food or rent and utilities.

Fifty-three percent said they chose between food and medicine. Nearly 56,000 of those who reported being food insecure - not having enough food - were younger than 18.

"The new face of hunger is the face you see every day," Sims said. "They could be from all walks of life."

At Cultivate Church in Voorhees by early Thursday afternoon, about three dozen clients had packed into the basement where the First Fruits Pantry distributes food twice a month.

The pantry, launched in 2011 when the church opened, monthly feeds about 120 clients who live in nearby communities, said Pastor Jay Francoeur. "That need seems to grow."

"We get new people all the time," said Marie Carey, a retired public schoolteacher who runs the food-distribution program.

About a dozen church volunteers moved efficiently to pack boxes of food, which included fresh fruit, cans of vegetables, rice, cereal, eggs, and chicken.

Roberta Sewell, 58, of Lindenwold, an unemployed cashier, said the food would help tide her over. She pays her rent and her boyfriend takes care of the other bills, she aid.

"A lot of times, we don't have enough money for food," Sewell said. "At the end of the month, I hardly have any food in the house."

There was plenty of food to meet the demand Thursday, even donated clothes for sale at 50 cents an item. Clients were served cake and juice while they waited. Children played air hockey.

"If these guys weren't here, there would be times that I didn't eat," Trout said. "This is how I get by."

Francoeur said the church, which has grown from about 45 members to more than 125, started the pantry as part of its mission to be "a blessing to its neighbors." A number of other churches and nonprofits in the area operate similar food programs.

Trout, a widow who just days ago started a small job as a mental-health worker, said her disability payments had not been enough to put food on the table regularly. Most days, she said, she eats one meal - a second if she gets a dinner invitation from a friend or relative.

"These places make a major difference to a lot of people," she said.