How Does Food Assistance Work?

We have many people in our community that run into a short term financial crisis and may need food assistance once, normally to bridge the food gap until payday rolls around. Anybody can get one box and just sign for it and we may never see them again. We don't want to make people jump through hoops for one box. It's already humbling enough to ask.

If a household is going to need ongoing help, due to a fixed income, low-income wages, terminal or chronic illness, loss of a job, etc., they come into our office after getting their initial food box. We have a client intake person who sits down with each household and discusses their current situation and what's going on.

Of the 6,300 households we served last fiscal year, about 85% had a monthly income less than half of what the income eligibility guidelines allow.  The other 15% were financially settled, but something happened in their lives that knocked them down, hard and quick:

• Lay-offs
• Reduced work hours
• Illness
• Injury

Households who need ongoing help are issued a food box card that allows them to receive a certain amount of boxes. They can take that card to any of the 20 pantries throughout Klamath and Lake Counties. Each time they receive a box, the pantry volunteer punches their card. Each household signs for their food box. Those sign-in sheets come back to the food bank monthly. The client intake person enters those names into a database so we can track how many boxes a household gets and where people are getting a food box. With limited resources, this system allows us to have a decent amount of control over the program.  It also helps to keep the quality of a food box intact.

“AND JUSTICE FOR ALL” In accordance with Federal law and U.S. Dept. of Agriculture policy, this institution is prohibited from discriminating on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, age or disability. (Not all prohibited bases apply to all programs.)