THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
MONDAY, JUNE 30, 2014
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COMMUNITY
PAGE 3
Local organizations combat hunger
RILEY MORTENSEN
news@kansan.com
When you look at Susan Green, she appears to be just like you. Her pride and joy is her little dog Annabelle and she's excited to be a grandma for the first time in just a few months. What you can't see is Green's past. Six years ago, she was homeless.
Today, life is much better for Green. She's living in her own apartment and made a home for herself in Lawrence, but because of a disability she's still one of 16,000 people throughout Douglas County who struggle with where their next meal is coming from, according to Just Food, a local food pantry at 1000 E. 11th St. That's enough people to equal the entire city of Great Bend.
According to Kansasfoodbank.com, about 17 percent of Douglas County
doesn't have consistent access to food. They are categorized as "food insecure."
Elizabeth Keever, chief resource officer at Just Food, said hunger affects more than just the stereotypical homeless person. Keever said they see clients of all ages and backgrounds at their pantry.
"Hunger has no face and has no name," Keever said. "There are people out there in the community you would never realize needed help. It's just humbling to think it could happen to anyone."
Just Food also acts as a distributor for Douglas County partnering with 29 other agencies and four satellite food pantries, which function just like any other food pantry, except Just Food is responsible for keeping them stocked with help from their network access to see what the pantries need.
Keever said Just Food is gearing up for July — the busiest month of the year for the pantry and its distributors. Keever said this is because of high bills from running the air conditioner all summer, which leads to less money for food. Children and teens are also out of school and parents need to provide at least one meal a day that would normally be taken care of by free and reduced lunch programs.
Keever said there are several other reasons many of their clients come to their facility in need of assistance.
"It's increasingly hard to access food stamps," Keever said. "They're harder to get because of more restrictions. The average food stamper gets $3 a day, and if that's a resource you rely on, that's simply not enough."
Food stamps aren't enough for Green who has been a regular client
at Just Food for months now because of her disability.
Green receives $18 a month in food stamps and said she has called the benefits office nearly in tears. She said she didn't feel like anyone could hear her.
"By the middle of the month I'd have nothing to eat if it wasn't for places like Just Food," Green said.
Several other programs in Lawrence offer food assistance as well. The Lawrence Interdenominational Nutrition Kitchen (LINK) and Jubilee Café offer meals to those who are hungry while places like Family Promise and the Lawrence Community Shelter offer meals, a place to stay, job training family services and education. When Green was homeless she started visiting the LINK Kitchen and they di-
SEE HUNGER PAGE 8
RILEY MORTENSEN/KANSAN
Wayne Briggs, director of operations at Just Food, unloads cans collected from a food drive at Relay for Life.
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