SUNBURY — The move to pay state workers is overdue, charity officials said, because desperate government workers have been flocking to food banks, emptying shelves and competing with other needy residents for the limited supplies.
Haven Ministry director Cathy Teisher thought there would be time to stock the food pantry before state employees would come calling after working without pay.
Instead, she saw a dramatic increase in need as soon as the state budget dispute began reducing paychecks more than two weeks ago.
“We thought it would be a week or so before we’d see (a need), but people came in immediately, as soon as the pay was reduced. Now we’re tapped out,” Teisher said, referring to the nearly bare food pantry at the 1043 S. Front St. shelter.
Normally, Teisher provides food baskets to 100 to 150 families a month.
In the past two weeks, Haven has given food to at least 50 more people, all state employees, who have seen their paychecks reduced or cut completely as a result of the budget impasse.
Salvation Army Maj. Sharon Cupp, of Sunbury, and Mike Benjamin, executive director at the American Red Cross in Danville, also saw an immediate and marked spike in the number of people in need of food.
Benjamin’s agency typically receives about five requests for referrals to local food pantries each month, and recently, nearly 30 state employees have called for help.
“Some are really desperate,” he said.
Cupp said visits to the Salvation Army food pantry climbed about 10 percent from the typical 60 individuals a month, and she’s seen plenty of frustration.
“For many of these people, it’s the first time they’ve had to ask for help,” she said.
Teisher said she’s never seen supplies at Haven Ministry drop so low and attributes it directly to the need generated by the state’s withholding pay from its employees.
“These are entry-level state workers who live paycheck to paycheck, and now they’re without a paycheck,” she said, adding that she’s horrified by the number who don’t have savings to tide them over. “They need gas to get to work and can’t afford to buy food.”
One female state employee walked into the shelter Monday morning saying she had only four slices of bread to eat, so Teisher rummaged through her nearly empty refrigerator for some frozen pizza and a package of hot dogs.
“They’re embarrassed, but every single person we’ve served has been nothing but grateful,” she said. “They’ve been blind-sided. They’re not used to this.”
Cupp is hopeful that the state employees who experienced a temporary squeeze will remember the agencies that were there for them.
Donations of canned food and other items, as well as money, are accepted at Haven Ministry, Salvation Army, the Red Cross and other nonprofit organizations that operate or assist food pantries.
News
Related Photos
-
Matthew Harris
Discussion
State budget dispute drains food banks
- News
-
-
Masked robber hits McClure bank
McCLURE — Police said a man with a handgun entered the MCS bank at 1 E. Specht St. just after 9 a.m., Tuesday and demanded money from a teller before making off with an undisclosed amount of cash.
-
Union County deputy excels at academy
LEWISBURG — Feel safer, Union County: A deputy sheriff received the Michael VanKuren Memorial Award for Defensive Tactics during his recent graduation from the Pennsylvania Deputy Sheriff’s Academy.
-
Shoch too good to lose, Point supervisors say
NORTHUMBERLAND — Point Township Supervisors Randy Yoxheimer and Montie Peters credit attorney Rick Shoch with helping them weather difficult years as they fended off a slew of lawsuits from developers, disgruntled former employees and residents.
-
Two firemen face trial in arsons
DANVILLE — A firefighter said “it kind of hit me hard” after two fellow firemen were charged with setting fires in Montour and Northumberland counties and calling in false alarms in Union County.
-
Lewisburg high school back on drawing board
LEWISBURG — The Lewisburg Area School District is moving forward with a flexible version of its master facilities plan with the possibility that construction, including a new Lewisburg Area High School, could begin as soon as 2015 or as late as 2018.
-
Storms knock out power to more than 700 this afternoon
SUNBURY - More than 700 homes and businesses lost electrical service this afternoon when a line of heavy thunderstorms rolled through the region.
-
Masked gunman robs McClure bank
McCLURE - Police said a man displaying a handgun entered the MCS bank in Mcclure Borough just after 9 a.m., Tuesday and demanded money from a teller before making off with an undisclosed amount of cash.
-
'To Do': Carnival
MILTON -The Lions Carnival held from 6 to 9 p.m. May 30 at Brown Avenue Park.
-
Electronic fingerprinting soon needed to provide long-term elder care
HARRISBURG — The Pennsylvania Department of Aging will soon begin using an electronic fingerprinting process to screen people applying to work in a long-term care facility or home health care agency.
-
Buggy driver falls asleep in Lancaster County; collides with bus
NEW PROVIDENCE — Pennsylvania State Police say the 15-year-old driver of a horse and buggy fell asleep at the reins and collided with a school bus.
-
17-year-old New Columbia boy in critical condition after Sunday crash
WATSONTOWN -- State police said a 17-year-old New Columbia boy is in the hospital in critical condition after the car he was driving crossed the center line on Route 405 and slammed into an oncoming car.
-
60 and Counting
The singer John Prine wrote these lines in a song titled ‘The Late John Garfield Blues: “An old man sleeps with his conscience at night. Young kids sleep with their dreams.”
- More News Headlines
-
