More working families need help

Newly released statistics show what hunger experts have long suspected: Those who need emergency food supplies in Spokane County are increasingly likely to have been recently employed.

Nearly 80 percent of those who sought food had a high school diploma, and two-thirds of the households had an adult who had worked in the past year, according to a 20th-annual client survey released Thursday by Second Harvest Inland Northwest. Both figures are significant increases from past surveys, the nonprofit group said.

“If you pull these pieces together, you can see there’s a big shift towards working families,” said Jason Clark, executive director. “Despite people trying to do all the right things, they still can’t feed their families, make rent and pay for gas.”

Last year, Second Harvest distributed more than 4 million pounds of food to 21 emergency food banks in Spokane County. Those food banks served 15,000 clients each month.

The nonprofit also serves hundreds of charities in the Inland Northwest.

The distribution center, which serves a total of 300 food banks and meal centers in Washington and Idaho, provided food to nearly 200,000 individuals in the two states.

Food shortages force difficult choices in families, Clark said. Fifty-nine percent of parents surveyed go without food so their children can eat.

Forty-four percent carry medical debt.

Evan Parker, a 54-year-old Vietnam veteran, carries medical debt because he was previously treated in the private health sector.

When combined with rent and utility costs, the bills stretch his veteran’s pension.

“Toward the end of the month, things start getting really tight,” Parker said.

The survey, which covered only Spokane County, found 61 percent of clients receive food stamps, but the majority received less than $200 a month from the federal program.

“As anyone who goes to the grocery store knows, that’s really not that much buying power,” Clark said.

“It’s clear that food stamps are not the only answer. The private charitable hunger network remains very critical. We’re still key in connecting people to food.”