Spectre Of Hunger Haunts County
By Audrey C. Lodato
Poat SUM Writer
While church groups and social
service agencies struggle to teed the
poor not only at Christmas hut
throughout Mhi^yoar, the spectre of
bloated bribes Ike the starring In
Africa, but people are hungry hare
in Mecklaatmrg Cluty.
Who are the hungry and where do
they come (Tom? .
"‘Some are street people, some ere
•thsrs^ K5ii?’*Ejfo££
McLeod, supply coordinator far St
Peter s soup kitchen of that pro
• gram’s " customers.’’
The soup Utahan has a nucleus of
: "regulars," but new teem show in
the crowd. They are of all ages. "We
da see children." nates McLeod,
"sometimes, babee in arms. I try to
: keep baby food on the shelf In case."
Sotne of the transients ar® “chas
- log a rairibow,” she says, coming to,
: or through, Charlotte tearing for
• work.
—r
Scottie Lindsay
•Hunger Action Enabler’’
tag as the pregnancy rate increases.
A significant number simply can't
make their incomes stretch enough
to meet their basic needs. "They
have to make a decision about
whether to pay mat or hast, or to
eat We’re seeing a lot more of the
‘working poor,’’’ Furr reports.
The Charlotte Area Fund, a com
munity action agency which helps
Mecklenburg low income and dis
advantaged residents through self
help programs, has set up "con
sumer buying dubs’’ for those who
have completed the agency’s money
management course, which covers
such topics as budgeting, saving
money, and establishing credit. The
emphasis is on establishing priori
ties and stretching afibney.
These consumer buying clubs can.
through the Area Fund, buy food at
10 cents a pound from the Metro
lina Food Bank, of which Harris
Tee tar Supermarkets is a prime
supporter. According to the pro- .
gram’s income management co
ordinator, Mary Staton, some par
ddpentfe report saving as much sis
$25450 each week.
About one-third of the program’* .
client*, estimates Staton, are work
ing, but there is m ode face to the
hungry. “The problems very,” she
remarks: "An average of3040
^SffromaurfooddSwiiL^oSeal
tbeee are “repeaters,” she says, but
most are new. Ctrcumstaneas vary,
bat It may be that the bead of the
household has lost a job; in other
instances, it’s the and of the month
and food stamps have run out.
Charlotte Area Fund dlreetor Ktrk
Grosch adds that “a cross section of
people are constantly hungry. HM|y
may sgt one meal a day/’
When one looks at ttte official
poverty levels, it’s easy to sa* how
people who work and who are not
“officially” poor can still be hungry.
An individual, for instance, is con
sidered to be in poverty if he or she
earns $3,230 or lees par year. The
poverty level for a hnmohnlil of
three Is $8,150; for four, 810,000.
A single nerson minimum
wage ($3.35), workii«40 boors a
week and 52 weeks a year, could
expect to gross $$,968. This breaks
down to $134 per weak before tans.
With one exemption, federal and
state taxes coma to about $12.50 and
FICA (Social Security) takes out
another $9.45, leaving $110. Although
this person, by income level, would
not be an official poverty statistic, It
would nonetheless bs difficult to
maintain independent living on this
amount of money in today’s society.
Approximately 10 percent of
Mecklenburg Comity is listed in po
verty, according to Census fi
gures. Many others are marginally
poor.
“The need is very great,’’ com
ments St. Peter’s McLeod. Never
theless, some hunger workers have
hope. “I really believe people of
good will working together can solve
this,” assures Lindsay. “I don’t'
think hunger is an unsolvaUe pro
blem"* :*■ ~
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