Many go hungry as food supplies run low

Stacy J. Willis

Monday, Dec. 17, 2001 | 9:38 a.m.

They are the "new needy."

At 11 a.m. about 100 people are standing in the food line outside Christ Episcopal Church. Mothers, fathers and children are bundled up in coats and hats waiting for jars of peanut butter, bags of noodles and cans of whatever has been donated to the church pantry.

Some decline to talk. A man wearing khaki pants and a ski jacket who is pushing a baby stroller says, "Do you really think I want to talk about being here? It's embarrassing."

But others say they want the community to know: They are recently unemployed, and they are in need.

Las Vegas' main charitable agencies are drawing more people than ever, but reporting that their emergency budgets are tapped out a week before Christmas.

"We're probably feeding triple what we were since Sept. 11," the Rev. Bonnie Polley, of Christ Episcopal, said. "Sometimes we run out of food before we run out of people. I have to tell them to come back tomorrow."

Although Christ Episcopal's volunteers, who work in an interdenominational program called Amazing Grace Ministries, have been feeding the hungry for years, this year the recipients are different.

"These are not the homeless people who we see regularly. These are workers who have lost their jobs," Polley said. "Mothers and fathers and children."

Christine Springer, executive director of Lutheran Social Services, said not only is her agency's relief budget spent, but her clientele is naive to the bureaucracy of the unemployment system -- and often doesn't know where to turn for help.

"Many of the people I've seen in these lines are the working class. They are people who may have just lost their jobs, either because of Sept. 11 or because of the economy generally. But they're new to this, they are unfamiliar with the system, and they do not know what to do," Springer said. "We've got people who have never had to ask for help before coming in here in tears...

"But we don't have any more dollars available for utility or rent assistance," Springer said. "Most of the agencies that help the poor in Las Vegas are out of money. ... We have twice as many clients as last year."

Lutheran Social Services served 8,000 families with emergency food and clothing between January 2000 and October 2000; it served 16,000 families between January 2001 and October 2001.

Alan Johnson, director of development for Catholic Charities said his agency is "out of funds" for emergency relief as well. More than 13,000 Las Vegans have lost their jobs since September.

"What's interesting is that we are used to the 'traditional homeless,' and now we're taking care of the new needy," Johnson said. "We need new money to do that."

Johnson said he is confident that the casinos, which in many cases laid off the people seeking assistance, will rise to the occasion and help them now that they have no income.

Caesars Palace employees plan to "bring Christmas, complete with gifts and Santa and his sleigh" to 27 families on Wednesday at Catholic Charities, Johnson said.

Similarly, MGM MIRAGE is helping its former employees by donating Christmas presents and food, Johnson said.

"Actually, (the) gaming (industry) is helping, and they don't get credit for that," Johnson said.

But Springer and Polley said the struggles of churches and social service agencies are larger than the outpouring of support from the community.

"We don't have a big knight on a white horse around," Springer said. "It would be nice to have a donor or several donors who would provide relief through utility extensions or rent extensions for these people."

Midway back in the Christ Episcopal Church line, Donna Kenny is shaking her head at this state of affairs. Kenny has worked and lived in Las Vegas for 21 years and never had to turn to donors for food, she said. She was laid off from a rental car company in October.

"I'm not worried about putting presents under the Christmas tree. I'm worried about keeping a roof over my daughter's head," Kenny said.

Roosevelt Taylor, who has lived in Las Vegas six years, was standing in line even though he holds a full-time job. Roosevelt earns $7 an hour working as a local security guard. He has two children, ages 9 and 7.

"I pay our rent and by the time I do that, it's hard times," Taylor said after picking up two bags of groceries at the pantry. "This church is great. It helps a lot. I don't know what we'd do without them."

"Some people are embarrassed to be in this line," Daphne Taylor, who had just gotten her groceries from the church pantry, said. "I'm not. It's a little embarrassing, but if it gets the community to know that there are kids out there that need to eat, it's worth it. These are hard times."