Lines of people needing help now contain those who once were donors

People who once were donating to worthy causes now are finding themselves standing in their lines.

As the economy tightens, more MId-Missourians are finding it hard to make ends meet and that's sending them to local agencies, hoping for a little relief.

But as more people find themselves in need, the amount of donations keeping these agencies going isn't rising at the same rate.

“It's all an additional strain and stress to our organization,” said Maj. Kendall Matthews, regional coordinator for The Salvation Army. “(Yet) We feel an obligation to do all that we can.”

It's more than squeezing through the holidays, although the Samaritan Center and The Salvation Army both have seen a significant increase in families who have signed up for their Christmas gift programs.

Paying off the utility bills becomes harder to do when the cost of other living needs goes up as families make choices between staying warm or providing meals.

Local food pantries are trying to keep up with the pace. But even the Samaritan Center's bounty only covers a week's worth of meals at best and that may not be enough to free up the cost of a family's mounting utility bills. So some agencies offer energy assistance, too.

The increased demand on services has caused the Samaritan Center to cut back on some areas to keep the food pantry at full-steam, said Ben DeFeo, community outreach specialist. For example, this month they chose not to give each family a Christmas ham and they've cut back on energy assistance, cab rides and gas vouchers.

“Like anyone does at home, we cut back the frills,” DeFeo said.

The number of households served by the Samaritan Center has gone up by nine percent, which equals about 6,000 people.

“That's a big jump,” DeFeo said.

A few years ago, serving 90 families in a day would be busy for the Samaritan Center. Now it's normal, he said.

Food requests are up more than 25 percent at The Salvation Army. And Christmas assistance requests are up about nine percent.

So the agencies are running on faith even more.

DeFeo noted that every time the shelves have been barren or resources looked bleak, an unexpected donation would pull them through.

Matthews added that they follow the faithful example of Jesus' story of the loaves and fishes.

“We may have a little,” Matthews said. “If we believe, God will be faithful.”