Stories for Poverty

For nearly three years, Beebe Medical Center and the Food Bank of Delaware have partnered to ensure that patients released from the hospital – including the emergency room – have adequate nourishing food. This Food Prescription Program, administered by Beebe’s Catherine Murphy, BSN, RN (pictured on the right), is part of the healthcare facility’s Community…

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While the federal government has reopened, the country’s longest government shutdown continues to impact Delawareans, including the 136,000 individuals who utilize the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program to purchase food. Because February SNAP benefits were issued early, this could result in some households having as much as a two-month gap between benefits according to the issuance…

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As a single mother of two sons, Brittany knows the challenges of food insecurity. The Milford resident is disabled due to mental health issues, and relies on Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly known as food stamps) to feed herself and the two boys, ages 10 and 7. Because the $290 in benefits just don’t…

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When the Food Bank of Delaware white van pulls into the parking lot of Ernie’s Country Store near Woodside, there’s already one little boy leaning against the side of the cinderblock building. He’s alone, barefoot, his orange Food Bank insulated bag is hand. . . waiting for Ms. V, the driver to move his bagged…

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Kathy Jackson, a Delaware Department of Agriculture Marketing Specialist, has been setting up shop at downstate senior centers and farmers’ markets to encourage low-income Sussex Country senior citizens to participate in a new program that will help them purchase fresh, locally grown fruits, vegetables, herbs or honey. Here’s how it works: senior citizens do not…

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The Food Bank of Delaware’s mobile pantry travels up and down the state bringing fresh and nonperishable foods to Delawareans in need. Last week the mobile pantry visited Main Towers, a senior living community in the heart of downtown Newark. When you think of Main Street, Newark, most think of a bustling college town and…

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Attending school and thriving does not come easy for many Delaware children, especially children living in poverty. For thousands of children, excelling in school is the least of their worries when home life is less than ideal. Many of our children are sleeping on floors in motels, living in households destroyed by opioid addiction, taking…

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By Ian Lawrence and Dan Jackson, SNAP Outreach Coordinators Unless Congress passes President Trump’s proposed FY 2019 budget, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits will remain in their current form of an electronic benefits card, providing recipients the opportunity to choose the foods that are best suited for their households. The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program,…

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By Ian Lawrence, SNAP Outreach Coordinator One of the most commonly circulated myths about the SNAP program is that food benefits are only available to non-working populations. During outreach events and presentations, our SNAP Outreach team regularly encounters hard-working, industrious, yet poverty-stricken individuals who do not believe that they are eligible for SNAP simply because…

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By Patricia Beebe President and CEO, Food Bank of Delaware This op-ed appeared in The News Journal on Sunday, November 5, 2017. In my role as CEO of the Food Bank of Delaware, I observe daily our staff and hunger relief partners working tirelessly towards our vision of a hunger-free Delaware, distributing over 8.1 million…

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