Published: April 12, 2009 07:20 pm      

Programs help stretch food budgets

Food is provided at lower cost in exchange for community service

Many southern West Virginia families already get a break on grocery prices by participating in programs that provide food at a lower cost in exchange for some type of community service.

Self-Help and Resource Exchange, or SHARE, Food Network and Angel Food Ministries offer monthly “package” selections in which as much as $50 worth of meats, fruits and vegetables can be purchased for $20 to $30.

Local coordinators, however, find many people either don’t know about the programs or think they make too much money to qualify for them.

“There’s no income qualification whatsoever,” said Jeanie Bowman, an Angel Food coordinator at Cornerstone Freewill Baptist Church in Crab Orchard. “This food is available to anyone at a reduced price, regardless of income.”

Another misconception is that the food is free.

“There is a cost, but it’s much less than what you would pay at the grocery store,” Bowman said. “With our program, you can feed a family of four for a week for about $30 or a senior citizen for about a month for that amount.”

Delores Billups, a SHARE coordinator in Mount Hope, said the number of participants varies with the types of food offered.

“Sometimes people like the main box or one of the other packages, and some months, they don’t like anything that’s offered, but we have several people who order pretty regularly,” she said.

Participants sign up for the packages they want and can pay by check, money order or food stamps. Some coordinators require payment when the order is placed. Others allow participants to pay the day they pick up the food.

Distribution day for both programs is around the middle of each month. Most of the programs ask participant to bring their own boxes to the distribution site.

The way in which orders are placed varies according to the preferences of the coordinators. Some take orders only in person until a specified cut-off date each month. Others take orders only on a specific date each month.

Food for the SHARE program is delivered from a warehouse in Pulaski, Va. Food for Angel Food Ministries comes from a warehouse in Georgia.

“These organizations buy food in bulk and are able to pass on the savings to the participants,” Bowman said.

Both organizations ask for two hours of community service but do not specify what acts of kindness participants perform.

“It can be any kind of service that benefits a neighbor or community,” Bowman said. “Reading to children at the library or at a school, teaching Sunday school, delivering meals to the elderly, helping to clean up your neighborhood, serving as a Scout or Little League leader. It can be anything that you do as a way of helping someone.”

Orders for April have already been placed by both programs.

For information about the May packages and to locate a site near you, contact one of these centers:

Angel Food Ministries

SHARE