Religion

BY PATRICK BUTLER
Religion Editor

The "New Poor" in East Texas are those who sit in pews next to us in church, sell our cars, teach our children, work in our hospitals or work on our homes. As the recession deepens, rising needs will add new numbers to those tapping the resources of the East Texas Food Bank.

That was the assessment of Robert Bush, executive director of the food bank on Monday. Bush was present with representatives of Brookshire Grocery Co. and Kraft Foods when he made his remarks to the Tyler Paper. The occasion was the kickoff of the Grocery Store Donation Program, made possible through a $46,000 grant from Kraft Foods and the cooperation of seven area Brookshire's and Super 1 Foods stores.

But Bush said his sights are set on millions of pounds of lost foods in the 26-county area the regional food bank serves. Those foods can now "be saved" he said.

"Foods now destined to be thrown away can be saved, warehoused and distributed through the East Texas Food Bank through this program," he said. "We worked with Brookshire's to develop a pilot program in January to test the feasibility of the program."

It was a fit, said Rick Rayford, president and CEO of Brookshire Grocery Co.

"There are items we'd rather not sell to the public that are still valuable and useful," said Rayford. "When the food bank approached us, we were happy to try the program because we're always looking for ways to assist the community. Through (the program) we were able to save 23,000 pounds of food."

Food donations had been turned down in the past, said Bush, because of food safety issues. That problem was met when the food bank's 9,000-square-foot freezer -- an asset that can store more than 3 million pounds of food or the equivalent of about 83 tractor-trailer loads -- was opened in 2005.

"Five years ago the board of the food bank planned for freezer space in anticipation of innovative programs just like the Store Donation Program," he said. "We are charged with the responsibility to find new avenues to obtain food. Locating those resources in the coming year will be more important than ever."

Bush said in the next 18 months, his staff will be searching for other stores in the food bank's 20,000-square-mile service area for donations. His goal is to have 91 donating stores representing millions of pounds of food frozen, stored and served to a needy public.

"The rising need is the new poor," he said. "Everyone is touched by someone in poverty and hunger everyday. They just don't realize it."

RISING NEED: Need in East Texas is rising, creating stress on organizations such as the East Texas Food Bank, Meals On Wheels, People Attempting To Help and others. These organizations report an influx of clients, the new poor. This photo illustration was produced in the style of Jill Greenberg, using model Carl Coulter.
(Photo Illustration By Tom Turner)