41% increase in demand at Los Angeles food pantries... middle class and advanced degreed come 4 food [View All]

[Liberal_in_LA]

http://www.contracostatimes.com/california/ci_11019345?nclick_check=1

Food pantries see surge in demand
By Melissa Evans, Staff Writer
Posted: 11/18/2008 10:54:28 PM PST


The sour economy has led to a staggering spike in the number of people in need of donated food from pantries and other nonprofits, health officials said Tuesday.

In a recent survey of Los Angeles County food pantries, the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank found that 33,729 households sought assistance in 2008 - a 41 percent increase over last year.

"The slowing economy has left many local families struggling to survive," Michael Flood, president of the Los Angeles food bank, said at a press conference Tuesday. "Many of these are families who consider themselves solidly middle class, but factors have changed and they are now having to seek food assistance for the first time."

Officials with the Southern California Regional Foodbank in Long Beach, which serves about 1.5 million individuals each week, say even people with advanced college degrees are seeking help.

"I've been doing this 30 years, and I've never seen anything like this," John Knapp, president of the food bank, said in a separate interview. "Unfortunately, it's probably going to get worse."

The two food banks serve as warehouses where thousands of charitable pantries buy food to distribute to the poor. Social service workers in the South Bay say they are struggling to keep up with the demand, particularly as the Thanksgiving holiday approaches.

"We've got people coming here from all over, middle class people, asking us not to tell anybody they were here," said