Many Guilford County residents want more state and federal support for our nation's Food Stamp program. Wednesday afternoon, a little more than two dozen people and several religious leaders gathered around the flag poles outside the Guilford County Department of Social Services. This agency distributes food stamps to about 90,000 people in the county.
The group held a Prayer Vigil for the Hungry. Organizer Bob Herron says this is one area where federal politicians can't afford to make cuts, "Something like 90% of the people at least in our area who receive food stamps are working, they just aren't earning enough they are still below the poverty line so they really need the help."
Herron also chairs the local chapter of Bread for the World. It's an international non-profit, Christian based organization that urges world government leaders to change policies allowing hunger and poverty to persist. Last year, the nation spent $78 billion to provide food stamps. Currently on Capitol Hill, Democrats and Republicans are working to cut funding.
"Some of the representatives said well churches and non-profit organizations could make up the difference," buy Herron says this will create a huge burden on churches, "so it would amount to about 50-thousand dollars for every church in the United States, that's churches of all sizes." Guilford County is one of several tests sites for a new computer program that will streamline how families get food stamps and other social service benefits.
