Thank you to the many who have dropped by the office with bags of food to help Gaia Works and the community food box in Otterbein, on the corner of 17th and Gladstone. You are making a difference in people’s lives in our community! We will continue collecting nonperishable food through October 31. Our address is 195 N. Shortridge Rd., Suite D; our office hours are 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday through Friday.
The community food box idea is really taking off, and we’re very happy to see other boxes popping up, including a box at Emerson Ave. Baptist Church on the corner of New York and Emerson. They can also use donations on nonperishable food, hygiene products (in clear plastic baggies), diapers, school supplies, and ready-to-eat items. Bottled water would also be appreciated.
According to Feeding Indiana’s Hungry, Marion County’s food insecurity rate is the highest in the state, with about 19 percent of the total population of the county food insecure in 2014. What’s even more revealing is that 31 percent of Indiana’s hungry have incomes above the federal nutrition program’s income eligibility thresholds and are not eligible for federal assistance. You may wonder what these income thresholds are — for a family of three (one adult, two children), they must make $2,184 or below (130 percent of poverty rate) gross income (USDA Food and Nutrition, Oct. 1, 2016). They must not have more than $2,250 in the bank or other “countable resources.”
The fastest growing group using food banks, community food boxes, and food pantries are the working poor. These are people with jobs that either don’t offer enough hours, or pay low wages, or both. In 2013, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the working poor make up about 7 percent of the total work force. About 4.4 million people in the U.S. who usually work full time were considered the working poor (making less than $342.87 per week). Unemployment, involuntary part-time jobs and other labor market issues have contributed to people falling into the ranks of the working poor.
As the economy moves from manufacturing to service jobs and businesses, the reality is that more low-skilled workers are falling through the cracks, relying on multiple jobs to make ends meet. Recent Bureau of Labor Statistics findings show that more full-time workers are taking on second jobs, rising to about 4.3 million workers in the U.S. holding a full and a part time job. Young people are especially hard hit, and are relying more on “gigs” — ride sharing driving, delivery, and temp office work — to make ends meet.
The working poor can be our neighbors and friends, who you may not be aware are food insecure. They may be too embarrassed to admit they can’t afford groceries every week. Let’s help them out by putting our $5 and $1 bills together to strengthen our community.
For those who are going to Irvingtton Halloween Festival events this week, there will be collection boxes to gather food donations for Gaia Works. The day of the Street Festival, Oct. 29, you may drop off donations at the Magic Candle.
