This article was originally published in The Examiner on Dec. 14, 2017.
By Eleanor Skelton
Staff Writer
Lines of cars blocked both directions of MLK Parkway for about a mile around the
Southeast Texas Food Bank right after Hurricane Harvey hit, executive director Dan Maher said.
While Beaumont was like an island surrounded by floodwaters, those in need were able to come directly to the food bank for food and water instead of going to one of the
many churches and community centers on the Jefferson County food pantry distribution list.
The food bank distributed almost 2 million pounds of food during the month of September, which is more typically spread out over three and a half or four months, Maher said.
When the floodwaters receded from the roads, he said the Southeast Texas Food Bank set up 34 mobile pantries throughout the community during September, much more than the usual six or seven per month.
“Things have calmed a little bit, but we’re still seeing elevated levels of need in the
community,” he said. “Those mobile pantries continue to be more frequent, but we’ve
scaled them back to about 10-15.”
The food bank delivers supplies to a site, usually in a devastated community trying
to resettle like Deweyville or Port Arthur, with enough space to line up cars and drive through, and community volunteers distribute the goods to those in need.
“We’ll continue [to have] more frequent mobile pantr[ies] as long as we see the need is still there,” Maher said, adding that this could be several more months or even a year, based on information he has from other food banks about their post-hurricane experiences, like New York City after Hurricane Sandy.
The Southeast Texas Food Bank normally sees a “modest spike” in need during the holidays, Maher said, and this year the organization expects to see that, plus the increased need in the aftermath of Harvey.
Year round, one-in-five people in Southeast Texas need assistance, but currently Maher
estimates this is about one-in-three people just due to Harvey.
This year’s annual “Share Your Christmas” drive has an additional subheading: “Help After Harvey.” H-E-B, Market Basket and Kroger all accept food for the food bank’s drive, or food can be brought directly to the food bank office, located at 3845 South Martin Luther King Jr. Parkway in Beaumont.
If everyone in Southeast Texas who was able donated one can — about 400,000 for
the 100,000 who are in need — those donations would provide about 350,000 meals, Maher estimated.
“You just multiply that effect if you gave more than one item, and you see the way we could quickly close the food gap in our community,” he said. “[But] that scale of achievement would require everyone being committed, so we do encourage everyone to see how hunger is a community wide issue.”
But donating online is more effective and allows the organization to purchase food that hasn’t been donated at wholesale rates, cheaper than individuals can buy canned goods at their local grocery store, Maher said.
Canned goods can also be heavy or difficult to fit into a family’s meal plan, a National Post opinion published Nov. 15 argued, calling for people to “put down the can and pick up the credit card.”
“There is truth in that,” Maher said, when asked about the article. “I would never tell people don’t give food because it is a way to get engaged in something tangible, [but] funding does give us a flexibility that food does not.”
Being able to purchase food wholesale allows the food bank to help even more people than through donated food, he said. Each dollar donated can provide food for up to four
meals, according to the Southeast Texas Food Bank’s website.
“In terms of an efficiency standpoint, we can probably be more efficient with money than odd and ends of food,” he said. “We leverage donated food and donated labor from volunteers in a way than an ordinary individual cannot. That’s why we can be so
efficient with that dollar.”
Maher said he wants to encourage the community to “maintain a spirit of hunger relief” year round, not just during the holidays when awareness tends to be heightened.
“The holidays are a special time, but they’re not the only time people are looking for food,” Maher said.
Visit setxfoodbank.org to learn more.
Some Other Place
Some Other Place in Beaumont is also getting ready for Christmas, Executive Director Paula O’Neal said.
“We are not a disaster organization,” she said. “We deal with daily disasters all day
long. Hurricane Harvey just created another problem that people in our community are facing. We’ve seen an increased request [for assistance], but most of the people we serve live in crisis mode even without a hurricane.”
Some Other Place left a few vacancies on their holiday assistance list for those who may be dealing with Harvey’s damage and not even thinking about Christmas yet, O’Neal said.
“I wonder if people that were affected by it have really thought that
much about Christmas,” she said. “They’re still faced with the struggle of the day.”
She said she hopes that people will continue to be generous in addition to
what they’ve done already.
The hurricane victims she’s seen have lost wages due to the storm, and some didn’t qualify for emergency unemployment or are still waiting on a decision from disaster relief organizations, O’Neal said.
One of their staff members has been staying on the property since his home flooded until he can make repairs.
“They’re not homeless because we’re not letting them be homeless,” she said.
Some renters were forced out by their landlord while repairs are being made, O’Neal said.
“Most of our people live in substandard housing,” she said. “Chances are you’re living in a place that probably should have been condemned before the storm. Unfortunately, most of our folks don’t have much of a voice, and the landlords don’t return my calls.”
Some Other Place provides hot meals for the hungry Tuesday through Friday and sack lunches on the weekends, and Henry’s Place is another Some Other Place program for the homeless, offering breakfast and shower and laundry facilities as well as connections to other services.
“Their needs are more every day,” O’Neal said.
Some Other Place’s emergency service program helps those who have lost income, had a death in the family or unexpected medical expenses, and also victims of domestic violence.
“Each person that comes to us is different, you can’t stereotype,” she said.
Some are elderly or disabled, some have jobs and some don’t, she added. Applicants ask for money when their car that takes them to work breaks down or when they can’t pay their light bill, and O’Neal said she helps determine if it’s an emergency that they can provide a temporary solution for or a chronic, ongoing situation.
Some Other Place received 600 phone calls requesting assistance last month alone, O’Neal said.
“I always tell people the best thing they can do is pray for us and pray for the people that we’re helping because there’s never enough to meet all the needs that we are faced with,” she said.
Some Other Place and Henry’s Place can offer a Band-Aid or quick fix, but she said she hopes to encourage personal responsibility and neighbors helping neighbors.
“In order for there to be long, ongoing success, there’s got to be that involvement for people who care about them and are willing to be involved long term,” she said. “Be conscientious about your family, neighbor, the man who does your yard, those people that your life touches.”
“Continue to be concerned and caring,” she added. “Stuff [alone] does not resolve the problem. It’s going to take involvement, that’s the best way in my perspective to effect change,” while being careful that helping does not become enabling.
Some Other Place accepts donations by check or through its website, www.someotherplacebeaumont.com. The organization was inundated with used clothing after Harvey, O’Neal said, but household items like old pots and pans or
towels are always helpful.
Eleanor Skelton 