Breaking the Cycle of Poverty

Out of work.
Out of food.
Out of hope.
It’s hard to believe there are people in our community who are struggling to survive, yet it becomes a reality when you learn that over 700 families come to the Harvest Food & Outreach Center every day seeking help. They include couples, single parents, the elderly living on fixed incomes, and the newly unemployed: what they have in common is that they are hungry, out of financial resources and afraid for their future.
Founded by Austin and Ginny Hunt six years ago, HFOC is a 501 (c) 3 non-profit organization that offers food, clothing, crisis care and educational opportunities. With the county’s unemployment rate currently topping 15 percent, the need has never been greater as families try to find ways to keep food on the table and a roof over their heads. Sadly, the ones who are most vulnerable – children and the elderly – often suffer the most.
“The prices of those day-to-day things that people need to exist – food, gas and electricity – just keep going up,” Austin points out.

Read the entire article in the December 2009 issue