Volunteers, including members of the Lakeville Volunteer Fire Department, put together 154 Cartons of food weighing 40-45 pounds each plus a Turkey at Mary Isaac Center on Saturday November 23, 2013.

COTS, food bank feed the hungry for Thanksgiving

It's 7:30 on Saturday morning, and Petaluma's Mary Isaak Center is bustling with volunteers. Like a well-oiled machine, they pack box after box - 154 in total - with potatoes, apples, gravy, canned vegetables, cranberry sauce and, of course, a turkey. Without these 45- to 50-pound boxes, many local families would not enjoy a feast this Thanksgiving.

"There's an immense amount of pressure on the people we serve to have a traditional Thanksgiving experience like everyone else," said David Goodman, executive director of the Redwood Empire Food Bank, which brings about 1.4 million pounds of food to Petaluma each year.

Much of that food heads to the Committee of the Shelterless' (COTS) Food Box program, which provides about 500 Petaluma families with a weekly selection of foods including fresh produce donated from area farms, and nonperishable goods from the food bank. "We call it a homelessness prevention program," said Mike Johnson, chief executive officer of COTS. "They need to feed their family even if it means they can't pay their rent. This way, they don't have to decide between feeding their family and paying the rent."

While reports tout the changing tide in the national economy as the recession begins to subside, it's a change the food bank and COTS have yet to experience. Goodman said the number of Sonoma County residents it serves each year climbed to a high of 78,000 in 2008, and has not dropped off at all since then. Johnson agreed, pointing out that demand for the Food Box program swelled 40 percent during the recession, and families are still struggling to stock their cupboards.

"We talk about better economic times, unfortunately it's not better for everyone," Johnson said. "The demand for our Food Box program has gone through the roof."

Working with the Redwood Empire Food Bank, the Sonoma County Department of Human Services and the Department of Health Services have created the 2013 hunger index, calculating how many meals are missed each year in Sonoma County. For 2013, the report predicts 47 million "missed meals" countywide, not including the 44 million meals provided by nonprofits such as the food bank, along with government programs such as Women, Infants, Children (WIC).

"While Sonoma County is known for its rich agriculture and resources, there are thousands going to bed hungry each day," said Petaluma Supervisor David Rabbitt, in a statement. "These residents, many of them children, go to school or face life's challenges with the added burden of food insecurity."

Food insecurity, which comes when a person doesn't know how they'll obtain their next meal, plagued 4 million residents in California in 2011-12, according to UCLA's California Health Interview Survey. Children from households with food insecurity are more likely to have trouble in school, while adults face an increased risk of depression and chronic diseases such as diabetes, the study showed.

COTS and the food bank work throughout the year to keep Petaluma families fed, but it's an uphill battle as government resources diminish. Take the federal Farm Bill, which is currently being debated in Congress, and includes a variety of food assistance programs. Legislators have proposed cuts to the bill's Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) ranging from $4 billion to $40 billion. Johnson said such cuts only push the need back onto the community.

"It's really tough on the community when government services are drying up," he said, "the community is asked to fill in, and it's a lot - it really is."

Johnson added that, fortunately, in Petaluma, people are happy to give. That point was punctuated this week by myriad turkey drives hosted by a variety of nonprofits to help make the holidays a reality for families in need. But even community groups are having trouble getting the donations they need. Last year, Petaluma's Christmas Cheer helped 700 adults, 60 seniors and 1,800 children, but organizer Jim Fitzgerald said that number would be lower this year.

"We'll probably have to reduce that number this year because of a lack of space," he said. Christmas Cheer collects donations of cash, new toys and often food to help low-income families bring the magic of Christmas to their children. This year the nonprofit did not find adequate space to hold food donations, so it will instead pass out grocery gift cards.

Goodman said while he's heartened to see the flood of donations this time of year, the need is ongoing. "We'll never host a turkey drive. We don't want to give the illusion that everything is fine because they had Thanksgiving dinner," he said. "The very next day, the need starts all over again."

(Contact Emily Charrier at emily.charrier@arguscourier.com.)

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