OPINION: Charities find themselves in desperate need of assistance

It isn’t news when charities such as Harvest Hope Food Bank find their supplies running low, especially during this troubled economy. What is news is the crisis level of need they’re facing.

As more people fall on financial hard times, they are forced to turn to charity for help in meeting their basic needs. Those many worthy charities, in turn, find themselves in desperate need of help to provide the assistance upon which so many must rely.

“It’s a little bit of everything (that’s causing the hardships), it truly is,” Maggie Knowles, director of the Harvest Hope emergency food pantry, said. “People who were once donors have now lost their jobs and now they need assistance from us. We’ve had a tough time keeping up. The demand is just so great right now.”

The shortages at food banks clearly are linked to the high unemployment rate in the area, Knowles said, although those who are employed often live below the poverty line and still need assistance, too. It’s estimated about 93 percent of Harvest Hope clients are working people or members of working families.

Perhaps no need is more basic than food. And South Carolina boasts the fifth-largest hunger population among the country’s 50 states, with the second-highest number of unemployed people in the nation, according to November 2008 report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Hunger is defined as the lack of access to sufficient food because of poverty or constrained resources. The mission of Harvest Hope Food Bank is to provide for the needs of hungry people by gathering and sharing quality food with dignity, compassion and education.

The Pee Dee location, based at the Pee Dee State Farmers Market in Florence, distributes food throughout eight of the 20 counties served by Harvest Hope: Chesterfield (13 agencies), Clarendon (12 agencies), Darlington (19 agencies), Dillon (10 agencies), Florence (63 agencies), Lee (nine agencies), Marion (eight agencies) and Marlboro (13 agencies).

Lately, though, the food bank’s shelves have been empty more frequently as the number of people seeking food has exceeded the amount of donations.

The impact of hunger on a person’s health and well-being extends into the community at large.

Hunger and undernourishment play a role in one’s ability to learn and concentrate, hampering productivity; lead to infant mortality as well as developmental and behavioral disturbances in children; and cause health problems, including chronic illness.

Hunger is a global problem, but it’s clearly evident in our own backyard.

It’s up to us to address it.

Like so many other charities, Harvest Hope doesn’t just need donations. It also needs people to give of their time by volunteering, whether it be to collect food or distribute it, or to conduct fundraisers and food drives.

For more information on how to volunteer, organize a food drive or donate food to Harvest Hope, call (843) 661-0826 or visit its Web site at www.harvesthope.org.

— Unsigned editorials represent the views of this newspaper. Editorial Board members are Mark Laskowski (regional publisher), James Bennett (regional editor), Sam Bundy (sports editor), Kimberly Ginfrida (news editor), David Johnson (regional circulation director), Charles Tomlinson (Lake City News & Post editor) and Jackie Torok (metro editor).