Salvation Army forced to turn away families

The Salvation Army in Las Vegas began turning away hungry families Wednesday.

For the first time in recent memory, the charitable organization's food bank is empty.

"In the eight years I've been here, we've never run out of food," said Sumner Dodge, family services director.

Catholic Charities isn't faring any better.

"Our pantry is down to one can of tuna," case worker Margaret Boyers said. "It breaks my heart every time families come here. Every day we get about 50 families."

The Lied Dining Room, formerly called St. Vincents by Catholic Charities, is doing a little better in its efforts to feed homeless people.

"We always need food," dining-room manager Dave Merrill said. But sometimes his facility gets help from casinos, the convention center or other organizations.

However, it never seems to be enough.

Dodge said the Salvation Army ran out of food because the demand overwhelmed the supply.

"We've already helped as many this year as we did all of last year -- and last year we set a record," Dodge said.

During the first six months of 1997, the Salvation Army food bank supplied 12,000 people with groceries -- this year it so far has supplied about 21,000.

"We've broken our all-time records five out of the last six months and 17 times out of the last 21 months," Dodge said.

The organization's major food drive, during which 65 percent of its total annual supply is collected, won't be until November when the Boy Scouts start their campaign. Last year the Scouts collected 118 tons of food.

Dodge says there are several reasons for the increased demand for food from his organization.

"I think the economy has been slowing down over the past year and the low-income people are having a harder time making enough to buy food," he said. "They are in a tighter squeeze."

Many people move to Las Vegas every month in hopes of finding more money and a better life, but when they arrive they encounter lower wages and higher costs than they expected, Dodge said.

"Thousands of families are on the verge of being homeless on any given day," Dodge said. "We're supplying them with more food, trying to keep them from becoming homeless."

There are twice as many women and three times as many children coming to the charity as last year, Dodge said.

"And the welfare department is taking people off the roles as fast as they can, kicking people off food stamps," he said. "Charities just can't keep up with it."

Last year was a busy year for food distribution, Dodge said, "but at this point in time last year, we still had 30,000 food items on the shelf."

The Salvation Army has mailed more than 600 letters since May seeking food donations and has contacted about 140 churches and all the casinos.

"A lady recently brought in $615 worth of food, and it lasted three days," Dodge said.

He said the Salvation Army goes through about 30 tons of food a month.

"Our food need has grown so incredibly," Dodge said. "We went into this new year thinking we were in pretty good shape. But with this tremendous need, we just couldn't make it last."

Dodge was angered, he said, by a story he read about some casinos giving leftover food to a pig farm.

"They can give it to pigs, but not to human beings," he said.

Dodge said, "There is more food in this community than anywhere in the nation. There is no reason anybody should go hungry."

According to Dodge, most major cities across the country have food-recovery programs.

"Some businesses, such as restaurants, are afraid of liability when it comes to donating food, but in this state there is a law that says if you donate food to charity, you can't be sued," Dodge said.

He, Boyer and Merrill said they would like to see casinos becoming more involved in donating their leftovers to the needy.

Dodge said anyone would would like to donate canned foods and dry goods should bring the items to offices at 35 W. Owens Ave. and 2900 Palomino Lane or to the Henderson Salvation Army at 830 E. Lake Mead Blvd. Catholic Charities accepts donations at 1501 Las Vegas Blvd. North.

Dodge said money also is appreciated because he can buy the food wholesale.

"We are looking for more groups, such as service clubs, churches and employee groups who could help collect food," Dodge said. "We would be happy to supply them with food barrels."

Dodge said he will pray for food. "The community has always responded in a wonderful way when the people realize we have a dire situation," he said.

Rodney Helm has been working on a project for several months that would provide a system to collect food from casinos, convenience stores and other food sources and distribute it to the needy in neighborhoods throughout the area.

"The program is still developing," Helm said. "The logistics are extraordinary."

Currently, volunteers with the organization, called Las Vegas FoodChain -- an affiliate of the national FoodChain Network -- collect food daily from Trader Joe's special food store as well as from 60 7-Eleven convenience stores.

"Next month we start picking up at 90 7-Eleven stores, and next year we will pick up from every 7-Eleven in town," Helm said.

The process is a slow one, he said, "but we want to make sure we can do everything we say we're going to do."

The goal, he said, is to develop a program that will supply every charitable food program in town with enough food so there will never again be an empty pantry such as the one at the Salvation Army.

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