More people hungry in West Michigan

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) - As Thanksgiving approaches, those who help feed the hungry in West Michigan are seeing longer lines than ever.

"People who used to be givers are now showing up for the first time" to get food for their families, ACCESS of West Michigan Program Director Marsha DeHollander told 24 Hour News 8. "We're getting more middle-income folks, more people who are working, people with part-time jobs, low-paying with no benefits."

They say it reflects what is happening across the country.

A new report by the U.S. Department of Agriculture found that more than one in seven households in the nation, 14.6 percent, struggled in 2008 to put enough food on their tables.

The rate jumped from 11.1 percent in 2007.

It's the highest rate since the USDA started tracking what it calls "food security" levels in 1995. In West Michigan, those who serve the hungry say the need is greater than ever.

ACCESS regularly serves 8,000 families a month in Kent County, up from about 7,000 last year, and the highest caseload ever, DeHollander said. The agency's 100 or so pantries -- operating at places like churches and community centers -- provide families with three to five days of food a month.

Feeding America West Michigan , formerly Second Harvest Gleaners Food Bank, expects to distribute a record 25 million pounds of food this year to pantries and other programs.

Last year, it set a record with 22 million pounds. The Comstock Park-based non-profit distributes donated, surplus food to programs from St. Joseph to the Upper Peninsula.

In downtown Grand Rapids, God's Kitchen provides meals for the needy through Capitol Lunch -- about 112,000 meals last year.

But the need goes far beyond South Division Avenue.

The kitchen, operated by Catholic Charities West Michigan, this year started preparing meals for the hungry outside the central city.

"We are reaching out to the suburbs -- an area God's Kitchen hasn't been able to reach," said Catholic Charities Vice President Peggy Helsel.

Now, it serves meals at St. John Vianney Parish, 4101 Clyde Park Ave. SW in Wyoming; Our Lady of Consolation Church in Rockford; and St. Alphonsus Parish, 224 Carrier St. NE in Grand Rapids.

On a recent Thursday night, 125 people from northern Kent County sat down for dinner at Our Lady of Consolation, Helsel said. At St. John Vianney, where dinner is served Tuesday nights, they have provided nearly 2,200 meals since it started in March. The once-a-month meals at St. Alphonsus are drawing about 100 people.

"We're seeing working poor who are making half of what they used to," Helsel said. "Those are the kinds of stories we're hearing."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.