PUBLISHED 11/26/08 -----

If times are tough for average Americans, how tough can they be for those who are in need, even under good circumstances?

As Kern County charities gear up for the holiday season, it’s an unavoidable question.

Rising unemployment and increasing costs for food and housing are driving up demand for emergency meals from charities and food pantries across the United States. In some corners of the country, donations are failing to keep up.

Demand in the Los Angeles area, for example, has risen 41 percent from a year ago.

Last year, before the economy took a steep downturn, some 36.2 million Americans, or 11.1 percent of households, couldn’t find enough food for three reasonably complete meals. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, about a third of those people occasionally went hungry. Since that time, things have gotten worse.

Kern County charities are nervous.

“We filled more orders (last) week than we’ve done in the last year,” said Pam Fiorini, executive director of the Golden Empire Gleaners, a local food bank. “(That pace) is not sustainable. We’ve got to have more food supplies or more cash. Something’s going to have to give.”

It could be worse — much worse. The Gleaners organization is debt free, owns its land and has money in the bank. But fuel prices — even though they’re low now — took a chunk out of the budget they hadn’t counted on. And food supplies, especially fresh produce, are down.

“We’re not going to panic,”  Fiorini said. “But the situation has our attention.”
Same thing over at the United Way of Kern County, where director Della Hodson actually sees positive signs amid the concern.

“So far we are actually looking at holding our own better than last year,” said Hodson, whose organization coordinates charitable efforts for a wide array of community nonprofits. “The oil industry and oil related businesses are a significant piece of our campaign, 40 percent or better, and those folks, even with the current drop in price, are doing pretty well.”

 Historically speaking, charitable giving has been recession-proof, according to the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University. Contributions to American charities have increased in 39 of the past 40 years in today’s dollars, and between 69 percent and 72 percent of Americans give as a matter of routine, the center says.

If charitable giving is an accurate  barometer of consumer confidence, things in Kern County might not be so bad. United Way pledges, for example, are looking good. But those are just pledges. “We’re just waiting for the other shoe to drop,” Hodson said.

 The other shoe will make considerably less noise if Kern County residents step up as they’re able. It’s Thanksgiving; now is the time.