El Paso Inc- Helping Hungry Soldiers

By Robert Gray El Paso Inc. staff writer El Paso Inc. | 0 comments

New announcements come out almost every week touting the latest Fort Bliss expansion - a new hospital, barracks or dining hall.

But there's one announcement officials haven't been too keen to make.

As the number of soldiers on post surges, the emergency food closet there is being overwhelmed by the still small but growing population of soldiers who cannot afford a sufficient supply of food.

At the same time, Army data show the use of food stamps on Fort Bliss, while still quite low, has almost tripled over the past three years, as the post has grown.

Efforts are underway to expand the existing Fort Bliss emergency food closet, confirms Jose Melendez Jr., executive director of the El Paso Armed Services YMCA.

Although the food closet is located on Fort Bliss, it's operated by the Armed Services YMCA, and is not affiliated with the YMCA of El Paso and the YWCA El Paso del Norte Region.

Now not much larger than a big closet, the aptly named emergency food closet will move from the building it shares with a thrift store at 51 Slater Rd. to a larger location on Fort Bliss. Officials say they are working to identify a location.

"The basic reason we need to expand the facility is because Fort Bliss is growing so dramatically. It is an unfortunate thing that there are some soldiers who can qualify for food stamps, but it is the way things are," says Tom Thomas, the El Paso-based civilian aide to the Secretary of the Army. He is also a West Texas Food Bank board member.

Right now, the closet serves roughly 30 to 40 families a week, according to Thomas.

Why there is hunger

"Nobody wants to know that we are sending people into harm's way, and their families here don't have the ability to support themselves, but that is the reality for one segment of the military," says local businessman Tanny Berg, who is a founder of a new non-profit known as El Pasoans Fighting Hunger.

"The system is there to give them support, but it is not firmly established," he says.

The segment Berg refers to is made up of newly recruited, junior enlisted soldiers, and it's also one of the fastest growing segments at Fort Bliss, according to the Army.

There was a time when lower-ranking soldiers tended to be single. But now more have families, says Melendez, and "the pay system is not set up for something like that. The Army is trying to fix that, but it does take time," he says.

Defense Department officials say they have dealt with the issue. According to the Defense Department, from 2002 to 2010, military pay rose 42 percent, housing allowances have risen 83 percent, and the subsistence allowance has risen 40 percent. They compare those to a 32-percent rise in private-sector salaries.

At the lowest enlisted rank, or E-1, soldiers with fewer than two years of service earn $1,467 a month; E-2s make $1,644, according to Army pay charts.

That's only the basic pay. Soldiers who have to live and eat off base are also given housing and subsistence allowance. The housing allowance for an E-1 with dependents is $930 in El Paso; the subsistence allowance is $325 per month.

So, for an E-1 who lives off base and has a family, that all adds up to $34,788 a year.

Ultimately, the emergency food closet is just that - mostly for emergencies, Melendez emphasizes. He says that many families get back on their feet in a matter of months.

There are also those who the Army accidentally stops paying. That happens sometimes when soldiers are being transferred from base to base or overseas, Melendez says.

Food stamps

The use of federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits, commonly known as food stamps, by military families at the commissary on Fort Bliss is on a course to almost triple by the end of this year.

Almost $1.2 million worth of food stamps were used at the Bliss commissary in FY 2010, while the total sales volume was $53.4 million, according to Defense Commissary Agency data.

That's more than double the food stamp use in FY 2008, when $527,259 worth of food stamps was used at the Fort Bliss commissary.

The total sales volume in FY 2008, $54.5 million, was about the same as FY 2010.

So far this year, $1.4 million worth of food stamps have been used at the commissary.

The Defense Commissary Agency emphasizes that the figures don't give the complete picture of how many soldiers are on food stamps, because the figures include military retirees as well as Reservists and National Guardsmen, who may also shop at its stores.

The figures also would not include those who may qualify for food stamps but don't shop at the commissary.

Unfortunately, a more accurate number is not available, since the agency that administers food stamps, the Department of Agriculture, does not track participation by military members.

Advertising hunger

Melendez with the YMCA referred further questions to the emergency food closet's coordinator, Nina Carey, who declined to comment for this story, saying it could prove embarrassing for soldiers.

But others say the fact that there are more soldiers here who can't afford a sufficient supply of food, as well as many more civilians in the El Paso region, needs to come out of the closet.

Raising awareness is key to improving the impact of the numerous food closets dotted across El Paso, Berg says.

"By exposing the story, rather than just spinning a negative light on it, we can say to this community that we need to wrap our arms around these families and embrace them.

"And we certainly have the capability to do that as a community," he says.

In general, when it comes to feeding the poor and hungry, El Paso is at the bottom - although things are improving.

Last year, the Odessa-based West Texas Food Bank, which serves El Paso and 21 other counties, distributed the equivalent of 15 pounds of food per person in poverty in El Paso County, according to Berg.

The Texas average is 72 pounds per person in poverty.

Pounds per person in poverty is a standard used by food banks nationwide to measure their success.

Food banks don't hand out food; the agencies and churches they partner with do.

And the West Texas Food Bank supports El Paso by supplying its partner agencies, like the emergency food closet at Fort Bliss, with food.

It was a lack of community support that led to the demise of El Paso's own food bank in 1995, and it's going to take community support to bring it back again, says Berg.

"We have to prove our credibility. The only way that is going to happen is if we create an awareness in the community," he says.

But that community support appears to be building again and many have become involved in the effort.

On Fort Bliss, garrison commander Col. Joseph Simonelli and Command Sgt. Maj. David Davenport, the commanding general's personal advisor on all matters involving enlisted soldiers and their families, have also gotten behind the effort.

And the newest local food bank, El Pasoans Against Hunger, will soon rent warehouse space where it can run a local operation, Berg says.

FOOD STAMP USE AT COMMISSARY

Food stamp sales Total sales
FY 2008 $ 527,259 $54.5 million
FY 2009 $ 984,433 $54.9 million
FY 2010 $1.2 million $53.4 million
Year to Date $1.4 million $48.2 million

Source: Defense Commissary Agency