El Paso Times Editorial Board- New group of disadvantaged

"Some kids go to school to eat" - Ruben Sanchez, deputy director of the West Texas Food Bank. And also, in these hard economic times, there is an unusual dilemma in El Paso whereby the poor segment of the population has been joined by people who have lost their job and have run through their savings.

Now they, too, use the services of the West Texas Food Bank. It's a nonprofit organization that gathers food at two distribution warehouses in El Paso and distributes to 122 partner organizations.

"These are people who are not too lazy to work," Sanchez told members of the El Paso Times Editorial Board.

And besides family bread-winners who are out of work, these economic times also mean foodstuffs are more difficult to stockpile. The West Texas Food Bank has been short some 20 truckloads of USDA food - 760,000 pounds - of late, Sanchez said.

We laud the efforts of the bank, in operation here the past 16 years. It's our main hub for feeding those who don't have food for their tables - and for "kids (who now) go to school to eat."

Everything (including toys and other non-consumable items) donated in El Paso stays in El Paso, Sanchez said.

Some data:

So far this year, the West Texas Food Bank distributed nearly 5 million pounds of food to its partners. Those partners include pantries, soup kitchens, and crisis and homeless shelters in El Paso County.

Sanchez said one dollar equals four meals. He said Wal-mart and Sam's are the biggest donors here.

And the bit of data we like the most: Sanchez said that when a family that's down on its luck, and thus uses the pantry, it is likely to become one of the donors when it gets back on its feet financially.

The West Texas Food Bank is helping ensure that children can eat at home and go to school, not just to eat, but to learn.

These are also times when a new group of people - those who have recently lost their job - need help, too.

Information

Contact West Texas Food Bank: Phone 595-1060, or go to www.wtx foodbank.org on the Web.

History

16 years in El Paso.

Two distribution centers (warehouses).

Four programs (Backpack, Nutrition Education, Summer EBT, Social Service Outreach.
El Paso County

Some 230,000 food-insecure individuals here; 86,000-plus are children.

Top four school districts (Canutillo, El Paso, Socorro, Ysleta) have 102,546 economically disadvantaged children, according to the Texas Ed Agency Academic Excellence Indicator System Report.
What's needed

More sponsors for Backpack program; goal is to be in as many schools as possible (at least two new schools a year) at $4 a bag.

More volunteers; that helps keeps operating costs down.

Persons or groups to sponsor a truck load of food.

Persons or groups to make food donations (participate in food drives) or make financial contributions.
Formula used to determine insecurity rates

Data from the 2009 Current Population Survey on the percent of children in food insecure households.

Data from 2009 American Community Survey on median family incomes for households with children, child poverty rates, and race and ethnic demographics among children.

Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics on unemployment rates.

Source: West Texas Food Bank.