The Cupertino Courier Photograph by Skye Dunlap Food Thanks Helping to feed those in need By Pam Marino With Thanksgiving just days away, local social service agencies are scrambling to find enough food to feed those who have little money to feed themselves and their families during the holidays. Donations to local food banks and other nonprofit organizations have been down in recent weeks, in part because of the relief efforts for the Central American victims of Hurricane Mitch. The devastating storm left more than half a million people homeless, and has spawned a shortage of drinking water and an increase in disease. "We certainly don't want to take away from that," Jenny Luciano of Second Harvest Food Bank said of the relief efforts. "At some point we want to remind people there are some folks at home who need help as well." Luciano said Second Harvest expects to provide food for 170,000 people in Santa Clara and San Mateo counties over the holidays; the agency provides food for 108,700 people in the two counties each month during the rest of the year. She said the agency needs as much food as last year, if not more when it received donations of 1.3 million pounds of food and $1.6 million in cash. The agency's goal this year is 1.5 million pounds of food and $2 million in cash donations. In Cupertino, St. Joseph's Catholic Church expects to provide approximately 200 Thanksgiving baskets to needy local families who are clients of Cupertino Community Services, about what the church did last year. But donations of food for the baskets is lower than expected this year. The number of local people seeking holiday assistance isn't necessarily higher this year, officials from agencies said. But they said the need among those seeking assistance is acute, because low-income families face higher rents each year, but not higher incomes. "I think what we're seeing is that the gap between minimum wage jobs and the cost of living is widening," said Sunnyvale Community Services executive director Nancy Tivol. Some people are working three to four hourly jobs to pay the rent, she said. "We are definitely seeing an increase in need for the day-to-day necessities," Cupertino Community Services executive director Mary Ellen Chell said. "It's because of the sky-high rental rates." Chell said clients at CCS are sometimes paying as much as 60 to 70 percent of their incomes on rent. "If a kid gets sick and you don't have insurance, what do you do?" she said. Tivol agreed. "They are walking a financial tight rope," Tivol said. "They're able to make ends meet until an emergency ... our help sustains them." The need at the holidays becomes more acute, officials said. Tivol said 39 percent of the city's schoolchildren receive either discounted or free meals through a federal program based on a family's income. With school out at Thanksgiving and in December, it puts a strain on families that depend on the school meals. Closed schools also means the need to pay for more childcare, and winter weather requires more clothing and more heat. "Because so many people are living paycheck to paycheck, they don't have enough cash to put together a holiday," Luciano said. Donations that don't get used at Thanksgiving will be used during the December holidays, officials said. If there's anything left over after that, it will be used to feed people during the year. Money donations are also welcomed, since the agencies can buy food in bulk at considerable savings throughout the year. Sunnyvale Community Services uses volunteers starting the day after Thanksgiving to transform the Washington Park Recreation Building into the Community Christmas Center. About 150 people will work for five hours moving in shelving units, tables, tons of food and donated gifts. During the rest of the week other volunteers stock the shelves and decorate the center. Starting the afternoon of Dec. 4, community services clients begin coming in to pick out a two-week food supply and gifts for family members with the help of volunteers. The agency takes three families every five minutes for two weeks straight, she said. A week is spent cleaning up the center, with some time off for the holidays, and then more volunteers pack up and clean the center the day after Christmas. Last year the center used 550 volunteers. "I need every one of them," said Pat Wogan, director of volunteers for SCS. "There's plenty to keep people busy." She said the Christmas center provides an ideal opportunity to people who can't normally volunteer. The center is open evenings and weekends. In Cupertino, CCS does an adopt-a-family program. Donors adopt a family and shop for that family to provide a holiday meal--using supermarket gift certificates--and gifts. A room at Union Church on Stevens Creek Boulevard is filled floor to ceiling with bags gifts for the families after donors drop everything off on Dec. 21. On Dec. 22, the 130 families come to pick up the gifts. Volunteers are needed to help on those days. There are always families who don't make it onto the adoption list in time, so CCS will take donations of gifts for children whose parents come in at the last minute. "There's always a shortage of gifts for teenage children," Barbara Jones of CCS said. She said gifts like disposable cameras, gift certificates to movie theaters and record stores, makeup and hair accessories, videos, jewelry and appropriate clothing are always welcome. Despite the fact that donations are currently down, Chell and others said they think the more fortunate members of the community, who have been generous in the past, will be generous once again. "It gives them a chance to open their hearts and express their compassion," Chell said. "It's a gift to both giver and receiver." How you can help Cupertino Community Services Quinlan Community Center 10185 N. Stelling Rd., Cupertino 255-8033 Non-perishable Thanksgiving dinner items are needed by this Friday, Nov. 20 for the baskets being assembled by volunteers from St. Joseph Catholic Church. Drop off donations at CCS. Donations of food, children's gifts and money are needed for the holiday season. Volunteers are also needed. Call for more information. [ Back to Contents Page | Cupertino Courier Home Page | Archives ] This article appeared in the Cupertino Courier, November 18, 1998. ©1998 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.