Faith and Anti-Hunger Groups Call upon Gov. Paterson and Lawmakers to Take Action This Thanksgiving to End Hunger

Support Hike in Welfare Benefits, Emergency Food Funding

Anti-hunger advocates today said that strong government action was needed to respond to the rapidly increasing incidence of hunger in New York State. Emergency food programs in New York and nationwide are reporting an unprecedented increase in the demand for help.

The Hunger Action Network of NYS and the Faith and Hunger Network are calling for the basic welfare grant to be raised from $291 a month for a family of 3 to $475, and to raise the state funding for emergency food programs (HPNAP – the Hunger Prevention and Nutrition Assistance Program) to $33 million. ($27.85 million was initially appropriated in the 2008-09 state budget).

"If our State is to be judged by the manner in which we treat the most hurting of our people, then we have failed miserably,” said the Rev. John U. Miller, Exec. Director of the Capital Area Council of Churches and pastor of the Evangelical Protestant United Church of Christ in the South End of Albany. “The unholy trinity of state leaders haven’t done anything for the poor in the 20 years I have been in the South End,” he added.

“As we prepare to celebrate the season of bounty, we urge the Governor and Legislature to take action to provide adequate assistance to our fellow citizens who struggle every day with too little to sustain themselves and their families. Increasing the basic welfare grant to cover the cost of inflation since the last increase in 1990, and providing increased funding to hunger prevention programs is not only the right thing to do, it is essential to the economic well being of the state,” said Barbara Zaron, Co-Chair, Social Action, Congregation Beth Emeth, Albany and Steering Committee Member, Reform Jewish Voice of NYS.

Monday November 24th is the annual statewide Thanksgiving Fast and Action Against Hunger. Individuals throughout New York State are fasting for one day to show their solidarity with those New Yorkers who are forced to go hungry due to a lack of resources. Fasters are urged to donate the food they would have eaten that day to a local food pantry, soup kitchen or shelter. In Albany, the fast will be broken at the FOCUS Breakfast Program at Westminster Presbyterian Church, 85 Chestnut St. on Tuesday Nov. 25th at 8:30 AM.

Fasting is part of the tradition of most of the world’s religions. Moses was the first faster in the bible. “Fasting is a transforming act – it has the moral power to bring about political change worthy of our state,” notes Bishop Howard Hubbard, Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany and Co-Chair of the Labor-Religion Coalition.

“We speak with urgency and embrace the biblical mandates to feed the hungry, give shelter to the homeless, and clothe the naked. Poverty diminishes hope and crushes the human spirit. The Jewish, Christian and Islamic traditions speak for the dignity of people in poverty in God’s sight and the responsibility of us all to give an adequate portion to those in need. This is not simple charity. As members of society, we all have an obligation to ensure social and economic justice for everyone, including the poor and the marginalized," said Robb Smith, Executive Director of Interfaith Impact.

“It is great to see the community coming together at Thanksgiving to make room at the dinner table for all New Yorkers, but hunger unfortunately is a 365 day a year problem. Contrary to what Governor Paterson has said, charity can not pick up the slack from government, especially when we are in such a bad recession. The problem of hunger in America is not a lack of food but a lack of political willingness to recognize that food is a human right. New Yorkers should not be forced to beg for handouts to feed their family,” stated Rev. Debra Jameson, Community Outreach Minister for FOCUS Churches.

"The NYS budget is a moral document that is telling of our priorities and obviously caring for the needy in our state is low on the list. Although I applaud Gov. Paterson for taking the initiative to trim an overweight budget, the cutting of programs that provide an essential safety net for low income New Yorkers should not be included. Those who have and those who do not have do not feel budget cuts equitably. It's like you and I cutting back on holiday spending, going out to eat less or foregoing that special resort stay. If you're a poor New Yorker, it means going without food at the end of the month, or not making your rent payment. Or having the power shut off for non payment,” added Rev. Jameson.

“We as a nation are awakening to the fact that the huge amount of resources spent on potential threats like terrorism abroad would have been better spent addressing real and present threats to our nation, namely rising hunger and other basic needs. Meeting these kinds of need will address the most presing kinds of "security" risk we face. Puting resources toward hunger will decrease crime, health costs, employee absences - indeed every aspect of life here in America will be positively affected,” said the Rev. Glenn Leupold, Co-Pastor of First Presbyterian, Albany.

“Cutting food programs does real damage to vulnerable people, especially children,” said Assembly Member Richard N. Gottfried, chair of the Assembly Health Committee. “Year after year, we have given major tax cuts to the wealthiest New Yorkers. We should roll back those tax cuts a little, before we consider cutting important programs.” Gottfried spoke at the Thanksgiving Action event at Holy Apostles soup kitchen in NYC.

Last week USDA reported that 691,000 children went hungry in America sometime in 2007, while close to one in eight Americans struggled to feed themselves adequately even before this year's sharp economic downturn. USDA said that the number of children who suffered a substantial disruption in the amount of food they typically eat was more than 50 percent above the 430,000 in 2006 and the largest figure since 716,000 in 1998. The families with the highest rates of food insecurity were headed by single mothers (30.2 percent), black households (22.2 percent), Hispanic households (20.1 percent), and households with incomes below the official poverty line (37.7 percent).

A November 11th story in the NY Times reported in the four months since June, demand for food aid has risen 20 percent in areas of the country with the healthiest economies and more than 40 percent in areas with the weakest,

The demand for emergency food is up significantly in the Capital District. The FOCUS breakfast program at the Westminster Presbyterian Church saw an increase during their first week from 65 people fed daily in 2007 to 140 in 2008. In October, the number of households using their food pantry program increased from 250 to 280. A Nov. 17 story in the Albany Times Union reported that in September, 60 percent more residents sought food at the Saratoga EOC Food Pantry than last September. Over that period, pantry visits were up 50 percent in Bethlehem and Rensselaer, 39 percent in Cohoes and 32 percent in the Albany hill towns of Knox and Berne. In Mechanicville, the community center served a record 1,436 children, adults and seniors by Nov. 1. The pantry served 787 visitors all of last year.

“It is immoral that in this the richest nation, New York leads in the growing gap between the poor and rich. Nothing illustrates that gap better than the decline in value of welfare benefits. The grant has fallen to less than 50% of the federal poverty level and is a significant factor in the high rate of poverty in New York, especially among children and in upstate inner cities. An entire generation of children has grown up since the last increase in the basic grant eighteen years ago; even at that point it failed to meet basic social and constitutional responsibilities to care for the needy,” added Mark Dunlea, Executive Director of the Hunger Action Network of New York State.

The welfare grant has two main components. The shelter grant, which is supposed to pay for housing costs, is so low that almost all households have to use at least part of the basic grant to supplement it. The basic grant is supposed to pay for other necessities, including household items, cleaning supplies, transportation and food costs. Families’ food stamp benefits are calculated on the assumption that the welfare grant covers part of the food budget.

The groups noted that the federal restructuring of welfare programs in 1996 has provided New York with a surplus of more than a billion dollars annually in federal welfare payments that could be used to raise welfare benefits. While many states have done that, New York’s basic welfare grant of $291 a month for a family of three has remained the same for 18 years. (The surplus is the difference between the amount provided as welfare benefits and the block grant, which is based on the 1996 caseload size.)

The federal poverty level for a family of 3 in 2006 is $17,170; for a family of 4, it is 20,650. New York has a higher poverty rate (14.3 percent) than the nation as a whole (12.4 percent) and the highest poverty rate of all the northern states. Poverty rates in upstate cities far exceed the poverty rates in New York City and the rest of the state: Syracuse, 31 percent; Rochester and Buffalo are just below 30 percent; Albany is at 24.4%

The principal argument against raising the welfare grant it at the moment is that the state can’t afford it with the growing state budget deficit. Of course state lawmakers for the last 19 years have never lacked for excuses as to why they couldn’t do a hike right now. Meanwhile children and their parents have fallen ever deeper into poverty. The low level of welfare benefits are a major factor in the state’s high rate of poverty, which are especially high in upstate cities. And when Wall Street and the banks said they needed the breathtaking sum of $700 billion for a bailout, Congress only took a week to come up with $810 billion. Putting money directly in the hands of poor New Yorkers is a more sensible step to combat a recession, since welfare participants will immediately spend those funds in the local economy.

New York’s low welfare payments contribute to hunger and homelessness. Malnourishment in children raises health care costs and impedes learning. It also forces them to live in unsafe conditions (e.g., apartments with lead in the paint).