Published: June 09, 2008 08:23 am      

Don't be too proud to ask for help

It is immensely important that these two categories of people don't ignore our local food banks.

1) Folks who need help from them.

2) Folks who are able to contribute to them.

The thing is, the way conditions are in the current economy, they may soon be the very same people.

We've reached the sad stage in this country when having a job _ or even two jobs _ doesn't guarantee being able to provide life's basic needs.

It's almost too obvious to mention that the price of gas, health care and food are making things beyond challenging.

Many of us are one or perhaps two paychecks away from being unable to pay our rent or mortgages and put food on the table.

We're a proud bunch here in Otsego, Delaware, Schoharie and Chenango counties. Going to a food bank or applying for food stamps is the last thing most of us want to do.

But there comes a time when pride must be put into its proper place, which is far behind reality and genuine need.

Proper nutrition is important for all of us, but particularly for families with children. Pride shouldn't keep anyone from receiving a hand and not thinking of it as a hand-out.

"We helped 144 families in April, our highest number ever," said Janice Hinkley, outreach coordinator for St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church, which operates a food pantry in Oneonta.

"We've been seeing new families and senior citizens, people who didn't need help before," she said. "They just can't make ends meet anymore."

The same is true in Cooperstown.

Ellen St. John, who has directed the Cooperstown Food Bank for 30 years, said demand for food has never been more urgent.

"We had 165 people in January, compared to 80 or 90 last year," she says, "and our numbers are up for the year."

There are also many more people choosing to go through the sometimes-noisome food stamp bureaucracy, but Bill Moon, Delaware County's DSS commissioner, said "we're still missing a third of the people who are eligible for the program, because there are so many people who don't want to ask us for help."

For those who are reluctant to seek aid, please keep in mind that, there could go every one of us.

The unemployment rate took its biggest jump in more than two decades in May. Major airlines and auto manufacturers have announced massive layoffs. Americans' net worth fell by $1.7 trillion in the first quarter _ the biggest drop in six years.

Not only can hard times hit more of us, hard times &bodytextwill hit more of us. That is why it is so vital that anyone who can afford to donate money and nonperishable food to local food banks do so immediately.

There should be no stigma to needing help, only in denying it.