Meal, pantry programs in jeopardy

By Karen Blackledge
The Daily Item

June 24, 2009 07:49 am

— DANVILLE — A diabetic could die and another person could be institutionalized if Montour County’s home-delivered meals program is cut due to lack of state funding, Human Services Director Betsy Hack said during a county commissioners’ meeting Tuesday night.
Other threatened state cuts could shut down the food pantry program, which provides food for 225 to 250 families each month. The next distribution for that program is Thursday.
A homemaker services program, which aids eight people, also is in jeopardy if funding is not included in the state budget, Hack told the commissioners.
She asked the board to give $3,000 for the food pantry program for the next two months in the hope the state will continue to fund it.
“We’ll try to figure some way out,” commissioners Vice Chairman Jack Gerst said. “The next time you are voting, remember the people doing this to us. I got a call from transit about a young man who is going to be a baker that they are cutting transportation for him. These people could care less about this kid. They are more worried about gambling, horse tracks and sports stadiums. It angers me and disappoints me that we are surrounded by people who call themselves leaders.”
The commissioners told Hack they would make a decision on the proposed cuts to the meals, food pantry and homemaker services by Thursday.
“One night of walking-around money would pay for these for 10 years,” Gerst said of funds used to bring voters to the polls at election time.
Commissioner Jerry Ward said the commissioners would approve funds for the programs “if we knew the state was accountable.”
Board Chairman Trevor Finn said, “The state needs to pass a budget and not cut money for a resident who could die.”
Hack said the diabetic man has physical issues and isn’t capable of buying food at the store. He and the other person receive five meals once a week through the program.
The contractor providing the homemaker services told Hack he would be willing to run a tab for the county if money is cut off. Some of his clients have mental health issues, Hack said.
For the monthly food pantry program, Hack receives food at no charge from Harrisburg and supplements it with state Agriculture Department foods from Altoona that cost $21,000 a year or $4,500 quarterly.
“Unfortunately, this is the end of the (fiscal) year, and there’s no money,” she said. “I hate to see this die off for a month or two. It will be a nightmare to start up again.”
The food contractor is willing to run a tab for the county but wants a guarantee the county will pay if the state money doesn’t come through, Hack said.
As for a housing assistance program she runs that costs $14,000 a year, she said it can survive for a couple of months. This program keeps people from getting evicted.
County Treasurer Kim Schooley said revenues this year are lagging behind revenues in prior years in the county. “I know you crimp every area. We’re just going to fight for every penny,” he told the commissioners.
Schooley will prepare a report, with figures, for the commissioners’ next meeting.