War Veterans At Food Banks--UK Shame, US Disgrace

This is the headline from the UK

BRITAIN’S SHAME: Poverty-struck war veteran was told to use FOOD BANKS

BRITISH war veterans are being sent to food banks in a shocking failure from the Government to provide adequate support for those who served in the forces – despite a national promise to honour them.

By ZOIE O'BRIEN

PUBLISHED: 16:39, Sat, Jul 22, 2017

After shocking revelations over nurses relying on hand-outs, an ex-serviceman has told express.co.uk he too has been told those who served their Queen and country have no right to expect extra help.A

Former Coldstream Guard, Joe Greensmith, revealed he was told to go looking for hand-outs – and offered a loan – when he went to the Jobcentre in Lowestoft, Suffolk.

Mr Greensmith, who toured in Bosnia, Northern Ireland and the first Gulf war, informed he should seek the free meals, despite having been diagnosed with severe Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), when he fell into hard times.

Former Coldstream Guard, Joe Greensmith, revealed he was told to go looking for hand-outs

Mr Greensmith had won a pay-out for an injury in the workplace and had lived off that for the last seven years, reluctant to seek help from the state.

Yet when he needed to, he was left disappointed.

He said: “On one side I am being told I have severe PTSD and on the other I am having to fight tooth and nail just to be able to eat and pay my rent. 

“It is a disgrace.
read more here on this

Strange thing is, they act as if this is some kind of shock. Wonder if they know what has been happening right here in the US?

Here are some headlines that may help them catch up on when shame became a disgrace.

It isn't bad enough our disabled veterans also have have to use Food Banks. For the US, it is our current servicemembers and their families.

Study Finds 25% of Troops Use Food Banks report from 2014

Move on to National Guard citizen soldiers

National Guard Turns to Food Banks Because Rick Perry Hasn't Paid Them Yet

The National Guard troops Texas Gov. Rick Perry ordered to the U.S. Mexico border last month are using food and gas aid from a local food bank because they haven't been paid in weeks. report from 2014

 And from this year

Why we need Congress to help more military families qualify for food aid

When Active-Duty Service Members Struggle To Feed Their Families

Congress Unlikely to Expand Military Food Stamp Eligibility This Year 

A 2016 Government Accountability Office report citing U.S. Census Bureau data said that about 23,000 active-duty troops received food stamps in 2013.

And then remember how many reports we've had on veterans having to use the Food Banks, the same way they have to use shelters and then maybe, just maybe, you'll remember what a "grateful" nation actually does...and does not actually do.

Veteran Marine Survived Deployments, Cancer And Still Thinks of Others

Former Marine Saves Up to Make Big Gift to Food Bank
Associated Press
by Ben Muir
Jul 25, 2016

Skorna left the Marines in 2011 after four years of active duty, but he said the time he spent in stricken areas fueled his desire to donate.

OLYMPIA, Wash. — The Thurston County Food Bank receives emails from people who want to help every day. Some offer an egg carton or loaf of bread. Others help wash cars or give cash donations, usually $10 to $50. Wealthier local residents sometimes make donations in the range of $1,000 or $2,000, reported The Olympian.

So when Fran Potasnik, a full-time volunteer at the food bank, checked her inbox and found an email from another prospective donor in April, she didn't think much of it.

Until she opened it and read, "Hi my name is John, and I plan on giving $10,000."

John Skorna, 27, vowed to donate the $10,000 to the food bank's summer lunch program. Potasnik told him a gift like that would provide 2,762 lunches — 20 percent of the 10,777 meals distributed to kids every summer.

"I thought, 'OK, what is this guy?'" Potasnik said. "I then forwarded it to the director and said, 'I don't know if this is for real or not.'"

"My first thought was a little bit of skepticism, but not in a negative way," Food Bank Director Robert Coit said. "John's email had a sense of sincerity and passion. Both Fran and I felt there was something about it that seemed real."

Skorna wrote to Coit that he had most of the $10,000, but would need more time to collect the rest. Coit said he understood and reminded him that no matter the amount, any donation is noble and they would be grateful.

"He's the epitome of what a service person looks like," Ravancho said. "He'll do selfless things with integrity, and he doesn't need someone to say thank you. He could have come in here, given the check and left without saying a word to anyone. That would have been enough for him."
read more here

Commissary Food Stamp Use Down in 2015

Military Commissary Food Stamp Use Drops
Military.com
Posted by Amy Bushatz
JANUARY 13, 2016

Food stamp use in the military’s grocery store system dropped by about 6 percent last year, down from $84.5 million in fiscal year 2014 to $79.5 million in fiscal year 2015.

The decline comes after a big drop between 2013 and 2014 when use went down by 18 percent. That fall, however, can be blamed at least in part on a reduction in the benefit, known as SNAP, at the end of fiscal 2013.

We could spend a lot of time quibbling over what these numbers mean, but we probably wouldn’t come up with many answers. Did usage drop because there are fewer families in the military? The latest numbers show a drop of about 102,000 military family members between 2013 and 2014. Could it be because fewer people know that they can register for SNAP? Is it because fewer people are using SNAP at the commissary and instead taking it elsewhere? Are the bulk of these commissary transactions even active duty families, or are they other types of shoppers (guard, reserve and retiree)? (For what it’s worth, I’ve been trying to get an answer to that question for about a year.)
read more here

Fort Hunter Liggett Soldiers Fill Food Pantry for Veterans

Filling up the pantry
DVIDS
Fort Hunter Liggett Public Affairs Office
Story by Amy Phillips
December 18, 2015

“VTC has changed my life, and helped me become the man I am now - a proud veteran” Parnell Strickland

Monterey County Veterans Transition Center (VTC), Dec. 17, 2015. The VTC Volunteer Coordinator, Parnell Strickland, pictured with the Fort Hunter Liggett Commander, Jan C. Norris (left), some of his staff and more than a thousand pounds of food donated by its military and civilian workforce of FHL. Parnell is an Army veterans who served with the 7th Infantry Division at Fort Ord, Calif. "The VTC has changed my life, and helped me become the man I am now, a proud veteran."

FORT HUNTER LIGGETT, Calif. – Fort Hunter Liggett (FHL) delivered more than a thousand pounds of food donated by its military and civilian workforce to the Veterans Transition Center (VTC) of Monterey County on Dec. 17, 2015.

“Fort Hunter Liggett is honored to be able to support our extended family of veterans at the VTC,” said Norris, who visited the facility for the first time. “I’m pleased to see the services they provide and the genuine care the VTC leadership and staff show to the veterans.”

One of the many VTC personnel to help unload and fill the food pantry was Parnell Strickland, an Army veterans who served with the 7th Infantry Division at Fort Ord and a graduate of the VTC program.

“”VTC has changed my life, and helped me become the man I am now - a proud veteran,” said Parnell.

“With this kind of help from FHL and others, we’re able to assist over 1,200 veterans a year with housing, food, clothing and information,” said Terry Bare, Executive Director of the VTC.
read more here

Why Are "Several Food Pantries" Needed For Military Families?

Fast food workers want $15 an hour while soldiers go to food pantry? Does this make sense to anyone? The worst thing is, none of this is new.

Food pantries support those in need all year
Killeen Daily Herald
By Jennise Colin-Ventura
November 29, 2015

Many families struggle financially to provide food, shelter and expenses for their household, especially during the holidays. And of course, if you are trying to save up for a few gifts under the tree, your finances are pretty much drained.

There are several food pantries in the area to help you and your family.

Operation Phantom Support and the Sgt. Leevon Ritter Support your Troops Resale Center: 317 E. Avenue C, Killeen. Call 254-233-1441 or go to www.operationphantomsupport.com and www.facebook.com/OOIALFortHood.

Anyone in need can visit this pantry once a month at no charge. Plus, anyone with a military ID can pay $10 or more a month and visit the food pantry twice a week. The food pantry is open on Thursdays and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. All is needed is photo or military ID and basic household information. Food selection varies for each visit but you may get meat, eggs, canned and dry goods as well as fruits and vegetables. They also have a thrift shop inside so when you need clothes or furniture, you can shop there, especially when they have their “Fill A Bag” sale. They also offer a program called “Operation Phantom Cakes,” which offers free birthday cakes for children up to 18 years old. If you would like to donate cake mixes, frosting or money for this program and/or to the organization, call 254-233-1441.
read more here and find more places to turn to

None of this is new. This report is from 2013

Celebration of Love brings holiday cheer to Fort Hood

Fort Hood Sentinel “Some Soldiers may need a little extra help getting ready for the holiday season, so we try to provide something that would help out during this time,” said Michael Ashford, the president and executive director of Celebration of Love. “We provide the makings for a Christmas meal, which includes a turkey, a pie, four cans of green beans, four cans of corn, two boxes of mac and cheese, apple sauce, milk and rice.”

You can find a lot more reports from "Armed Forces Day Armed With Food Stamps" post on Wounded Times May 15, 2008. And this report is from 1994.

As Military Pay Slips Behind, Poverty Invades the Ranks
New York Times
By ERIC SCHMITT
Published: June 12, 1994

WASHINGTON, June 11— Like other airmen at Hickam Air Force Base in Honolulu, 21-year-old Jason Edwards worries about tensions far away in North Korea that could erupt into fighting and involve his supply base.

But Airman Edwards has more immediate concerns, too. He is worried about how to feed his 22-year-old wife, Beth, and their two small children on his total pay and allowances of $1,330 a month. In desperation, the Edwardses last month began drawing $228 a month in food stamps to get by.

"It's a very tight squeeze for us," Mrs. Edwards said. "We haven't bought any steaks since we've been here, and whenever I want to cook something with ham, I substitute Spam for it."

In a trend that has senior Pentagon officials deeply troubled, an increasing number of military families are turning to food stamps to make ends meet. Three-quarters of America's enlisted forces earn less than $30,000 a year, and the gap between civilian and military wages is growing.

To be sure, no one ever joined the military to get rich. But neither did they expect to have to go on welfare. Military officials worry that a growing demand for food stamps and other Government assistance may signal larger personnel problems in a culture that preaches self-reliance and self-discipline.

The truth is we don't take care of them while they are in the military and we sure as hell don't take care of them when they come home. Just goes to show that no political side is really grateful for those willing to sacrifice their lives to retain the freedoms the rest of us enjoy, including demanding more money than they make!

Hungry military families helped by donations to buy food?

All the other scandals Congress wants you to pay attention to this is one of the ones they don't want to talk about.

Operation Homefront Receives $50,000 from the Walmart Foundation
The Leaf Chronicle
Feb. 11, 2014

FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. (Feb. 11, 2014) – Operation Homefront today announced that it received a $50,000 contribution to assist with food distribution to military families during the recent holiday season. The grant – which was given to the non-profit organization through the Walmart Foundation’s State Giving Program – helped provide gift cards to military families in Tennessee and Kentucky who needed assistance purchasing food for holiday meals.

“Thanks to the Walmart Foundation, our annual Holiday House in December not only helped military families shop for gifts, but it ensured every family left with a $50 or $100 Walmart gift card to help pay for food,” said Tina Englen, Operation Homefront – Tennessee/Kentucky’s Executive Director. “It was a needed addition to our program this year, and we are very grateful for the grant.”

A national nonprofit, Operation Homefront provides emergency and other financial assistance to the families of service members and wounded warriors. Operation Homefront has met more than 750,000 needs of military families since its inception in 2002, including financial assistance, emergency food, emergency home repairs, and more. This year’s Holiday House in Oak Grove, Ky., served about 600 military families living in the Fort Campbell region.
read more here

Kansas City National Guard armory now has a food pantry

Soldier’s Wife Takes on Mission to Help Feed Kansas City Troops
DODLive
Posted on February 22, 2013
by kfinley
Story by Jennifer Archdekin
Missouri National Gaurd

Thanks to volunteers at the Kansas City National Guard armory, military service members now have an additional resource available to them when it comes to feeding their families.

Recently an on-site food pantry opened its doors to local Guardsmen, as well as all active military personnel and veterans, regardless of their branch of service.

The Family Readiness Group leader for the 110th Maneuver Enhancement Brigade, Tracy Belt, manages the pantry.

“There was a need,” said Belt. “We just needed to have it for people to take advantage of it.”

According to Belt, the Harvesters-sponsored food pantry was able to move in 1,600 pounds of food to their shelves in January. She said they don’t require any financial information, just a few basic questions, and will serve the troops regardless of their income.
read more here

Fort Hood families have to use food pantries?

Fort Hood soldiers fight to make ends meet
Large families, low pay, injuries and predatory loans mean some military families depend on food pantries.

By Jeremy Schwartz
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Feb. 25, 2012

KILLEEN — As the sun rises on a chilly winter morning, the line grows longer outside the Killeen Food Care Center next to the railroad tracks on the eastern edge of downtown. Sprinkled throughout the expanding crowd of more than 100 are what some might consider a surprising sight: uniformed soldiers from nearby Fort Hood, waiting to fill bags with about 10 days' worth of canned meats, cereal and fresh vegetables.

"I got the information from two other soldiers," said Sgt. Sandy Cornet, 28, who recently returned from Iraq and was waiting in the line with her husband and two of their five children. "It's a lot of them that come here, but they change their clothes because I guess it's embarrassing. A lot don't like to ask for help."

Over the past decade, an all-volunteer military force has shouldered the entire burden of frequent deployments into the war zone, spending months away from families and risking injury and death. But back at home, the harsh reality for a largely unseen population of soldiers and military families has been a spot in a food line, food stamps and a daily struggle to make ends meet.

An American-Statesman analysis of Fort Hood and national numbers shows that American service members are feeling the same economic pain as the rest of the country: They are using federal entitlements in growing numbers, seeking millions of dollars in emergency relief and receiving regular food assistance.

At Fort Hood, the military's busiest deployment hub to Iraq over the past decade and home to as many as 50,000 soldiers, an on-post food pantry has served nearly 5,000 military families since 2008. Food stamp usage at on-post commissaries has ballooned from about $285,000 in 2001 to $1.4 million last year, according to the Defense Commissary Agency . Those numbers include soldiers, family members, reservists and retirees.
read more here

Annual food drive returns to Killeen with help from troops

Annual food drive returns to Killeen
Floating on cloud nine is how Ann Farris said she will feel after Killeen's Food Care Center receives its donated goods during the Central Texas Food For Families drive Nov. 21.

Farris, the co-director of the Food Care Center, said sorting all those provisions and getting them out to families in need will be an exhausting process, but it is always well worth the positive impact that the simplest of necessities can make on the community.

Through the partnership between KWTX Channel 10 News, H-E-B, the Longhorn Council of the Boy Scouts of America, the U.S. Army, local food pantries and scores of volunteers, the food drive has been going strong in Central Texas for 18 years.

Virgil Teter, the vice president of news at KWTX and an organizer of the drive, said the event is spread over 19 cities and nine counties.
click link for more

The price of hunger in America

June 29, 2008

The price of hunger
ANP: Hunger is a growing crisis in US, stagnant economy and rising fuel price cause cost of food to soar

American News Project: Hunger is a growing crisis in America. With a stagnant economy and rising fuel prices the cost of food is soaring. Congress is reacting, but will their efforts be enough? ANP spends a week with Brian Duss who agrees to take the Food Stamp Challenge and live off a dollar per meal for 7 days.



The Price of Hunger
By Garland McLaurin

JAMES P. MCGOVERN, CONGRESSMAN (D-MA): Hunger is a political condition. That is absolutely the best way to characterize it. We have the resources, we have the infrastructure, we have everything to end hunger except the political will.

VOICEOVER: Hunger is growing in America, and food banks are scrambling to keep up with the need. Higher oil prices mean higher food prices, and the stagnant economy means more unemployment. It's estimated that a record 28 million Americans will be using food stamps in 2009. Millions more depend on community food banks like Bread for the City in Washington, DC, to provide free food from time to time.

JEANETTE CHANCE, NORTHWEST FOOD COORDINATOR: You know, we never can predict a time and an amount of people, but they're coming, and probably between about 100 to 150 people per day. The first two weeks of the month, it's really 200-plus families every month.

VOICEOVER: The elderly living on fixed incomes are among those who need the most help with food donations. For many, the food stamps they receive are just not enough.

CHANCE: A person who picks up from us every month—I don't know if I should say his name—but he'll be 110 years old this year, and he's the talk of Bread for the City, and stronger than two people, two normal people. But he comes faithfully and picks his food up every month.

DONNA HENDRICKS, SENIOR IN NEED OF FOOD ASSISTANCE: I have to go wherever I can go to get groceries, because the cost of living has gone up so high. It's like a vicious cycle. It reminds me of a hamster running on its wheel, just going around and around and around. And I feel overwhelmed right now. I live on a single income, and it's true I do get food stamps, but all I get is $70 a month, and that doesn't stretch for one month. So I come here and I get food once a month, and that helps tremendously.
click post title for more

When do we get about doing what Christ told us to do? If anyone wants to claim the title of being a Christian think of this.

Galatians 6:2 (New International Version)
2 Carry each other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Galatians+6:2

You can find many more times when Christ Himself talked about how to treat others in the Red letters of the New Testament.

How can anyone dismiss this and still claim how important faith is to them? Is it was faith can do only for them, their needs, wants and desires? Or is it what faith is supposed to transform within them? Do they think it's ok to face Christ and say what they bought for themselves instead of what they did for others? Do they think it's ok that they claimed they fought for Christ to stop abortions or gay marriages when they failed to take care of the least among us? If they think what someone else does in their own personal life is what Christ was talking about fighting against, they missed the entire reason He came at all. Read the Red Letters of the New Testament and find me the time when Christ said we were to hate or judge anyone. Find me the part where He talked about making sure we got what we wanted first and leave everyone else on their own. Sure you can point to Leviticus and how the sins were worthy of death like eating shell fish, or maybe even go to the Acts and the speeches given by Paul, but you can't show me where Christ said anything about any of this or where God said anything written in Leviticus in the Ten Commandments. We twist what is right around because we just don't want to do it His way. Take a look at the words above and then tell me how allowing people to go hungry in this country is suppose to be a thing to ignore.

Senior Chaplain Kathie Costos
Namguardianangel@aol.com
www.Namguardianangel.org
www.Woundedtimes.blogspot.com

"The willingness with which our young people are likely to serve in any war, no matter how justified, shall be directly proportional to how they perceive veterans of early wars were treated and appreciated by our nation."

- George Washington