Food assistance participants increasing

Jenny Kerbs said she doesn't know how her family would make ends meet without the aid of the Food Assistance Program.

"I still have to spend extra money, but just on milk and bread," she said. "I get all my meats and canned vegetables with my food stamps."

Kerbs receives $163 per month on her electronic benefit transfer card to help offset the expenses of buying groceries for her family. The card is also referred to as EBT.

The average monthly benefit for qualified families in the state is $128.54, according to the Alabama Department of Human Resources, and Kerbs is one of a growing number of local residents using EBT cards.

"The Food Assistance Program is designed to help families in need. It was never designed to provide 100 percent of food needs for a family," said Cindy Bratcher, director of the Lauderdale County Department of Human Resources. "It's a great program and has helped a lot of people."

An estimated 39 million Americans receive food stamps, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

As the number of users increase, so has the number of businesses accepting EBT cards. Retailers such as Target, Fred's Discount Center, CVS, Family Dollar and Dollar General accept the cards.

"We operate more than 1,700 stores nationwide and have always accepted EBT cards in some of our stores, but in June we started accepting them in all our stores," said Dave Fransen, a Target spokesman. "Since we were already accepting them at so many stores, it just made sense to expand to all of our stores.

"Not every retailer accepts (the EBT cards), but people are going to shop and this is another effort by Target to cater to their needs," he said.

In its third-quarter earnings report published July 8, Family Dollar credited EBT receipts as one reason for its success in the recession-fed economy. Sales were up 6.2 percent for the quarter, and food and beverages gained the most.

In the report, Dollar General Chief Executive Officer Howard Levine said food stamps represent "a significant opportunity for us." EBT spending at Family Dollar was up 18 percent from March 2008 to March 2009, according to company reports.

Kerbs said she appreciates the option of shopping at stores such as Target, but added she sticks to grocery stores that offer bargains on meats, vegetables and canned goods.

"When I go grocery shopping, I hardly buy junk food," she said. "It has to last for a month."

"Businesses see this as an opportunity, and they are capitalizing on it," said Jerry Groce, director of the Franklin County Department of Human Resources. "It behooves them to accept (EBT cards). First, it serves the public, and secondly, it's another service (the business) can provide."

Elisha Davis, coordinator of the food assistance program in Colbert County, said the area's farmers market accepts the EBT cards, as do some convenience stores.

Mary Lois Monroe, director of the Food Assistance Division of the Alabama DHR, said the food assistance program "helps our clients, it helps businesses and it helps the economy."

State officials said every $5 spent on an EBT card generates $9.20 in the economy.

Monroe said for many people, the food assistance program is a "life send."

"I've heard people at the national level say this is one of the most effective stimulus programs there is," Monroe said. "During this recession, this program is doing what it is set up to do - supplement needs.

"This (program) allows people to have meals. We have replaced the soup lines of the Great Depression."

She said with unemployment rates increasing, more people are applying and qualifying for the food assistance program.

Monroe said more than 300,000 households in the state received food assistance in July, which amounts to more than $93 million.

That was a substantial increase from July 2008, when 236,930 households received more than $56 million in assistance.

"And (the 2008 figures) were up from 2007 when we paid out about $51 million in benefits to 223,386 households," Monroe said. "I expect those numbers to continue to rise."

In Lauderdale County, the region's largest and most populated county, DHR officials said the number of food assistance clients is steadily growing each month.

In July 2008, there were 3,752 Lauderdale households receiving assistance. Sandra Lair, the program's coordinator, said in July the program served 4,582 households.

"Last month, we got 749 applications and of those 184 were new," Lair said. "We've never seen an increase like this before."

Other counties are seeing new applicants on a weekly basis.

"It's unreal, but with unemployment in double digits, it's going to continue to grow," Gross said.

Monroe said eligibility for the program is based primarily on income. She said the amount of benefits are based on size of the household, income and household expenses.

She said so far this year, $780 million has been issued in food assistance to Alabama families.

"We still have two months to go (in this fiscal year that ends Sept. 30), and at this rate, we could issue nearly $1 billion before the year is up," Monroe said.

She said there are still a lot of people who are qualified but not taking advantage of the program.

"Last year, we were issuing to about 65 percent of the people who were eligible. There's still a lot of people who are eligible but have not applied," Monroe said.

Louise Taylor, director of the Colbert County DHR, said without the food assistance program, there would be a lot of people going hungry.

"It's scary to think about, but if not for the program there would be many, many children and older citizens doing without sufficient food," Taylor said.

Russ Corey can be reached at 740-5738

Tom Smith can be reached at 740-5757.