Increased demand forces shelter to limit Thanksgiving assistance

BARSTOW — A more than 50 percent increase in demand for free Thanksgiving turkeys forced a local charity to become more restrictive in who it helps.

Every year during the holiday season, homeless shelter Desert Manna Ministries gives out about 600 holiday baskets with uncooked hams, turkeys and canned goods to feed needy families on Thanksgiving and Christmas. In previous years, the shelter has had sufficient donations to meet demand, but this year, with 475 interested families and 300 baskets just for Thanksgiving, the organization decided it could only give out baskets to families of four or more, said Emma Gross, executive director of the organization.

“Honestly, I would love to have the funding where every single family received a basket,” she said. “Unfortunately with the increase in poverty and decrease in funding, it’s just not possible.”

Gross said that she’s received several angry phone calls from smaller families disqualified from the program, but the group chose to focus on larger families because they have more mouths to feed.

“We had to cut it off somewhere,” she said. “Let’s be serious; $8 and $9 per hour jobs are just not going to feed a family of six or eight.”

She said she’s sympathetic to the families being taken off the donations list, but said the organization just doesn’t have a choice. The turkeys are purchased by the Mojave Valley United Way and Desert Manna and funding is limited. Those disqualified can share in the shelter’s group Thanksgiving meal on Nov. 21, where an additional 400 people will be served, Gross said.

She said that donations from Golden State Water company, the Barstow Optimists club, Barstow Women’s club and Kiwanis have helped to fund the program, but demand still exceeds supply.

Gross said that she sees an influx of low-income people moving into the Barstow area and expects increased demand for Christmas baskets as well. Desert Manna and several other organizations distribute the Christmas baskets, and Gross said she’d like to see better coordination among the giving agencies to make sure needs are met.

She said that last month the organization served an additional 800 meals and provided 200 extra shelter nights as compared to October of 2006. The shelter received about $200 less in donations for the same period.

Barstow resident John Lydum, who works part time at a truck stop, said that he’s benefited from the holiday baskets for five years, and the holiday wouldn’t be the same without it.

He said he’s not sure what he and his family of four would eat on Thanksgiving without the turkey.

“I don’t know, probably Top Ramen,” he said.

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(760) 256-4126 or jason_smith@link.freedom.com