I finaly got That caseworker to give me foodstamps..So Why I look for a job..Don't have to worry about how my kids will eat.Shes giving me my total for the rest of the month.Then I get my regular amount begining of month.She said I have to go to unemployment job program.Told her I don't have a problem with that I want a job.

YOU ARE SO RIGHT I HAVE 5 KIDS SINGL;E PARENT AND THET TELL ME I WAS OVERPAID THAT THEY WERE GOING TO LOWER MY AID JUST FOR 3 MONTHS AND ITS BEEN 6 GOD HOW I WISH I COULD GET A BETTER JOB AND JUST SAY GOODBYE TO FOODSTAMPS

Most people who get food stamps get cut off because they make 20 or 30 dollars too much... come on people this is a goverment program... and if you have 1 or 10 childern you should qualfy for the program and there should be a bottom line limit on those familys that make 20 or 30 dollars to much... give these people 100.00 a month and see if it dose not help them and take some of the burden off there shoulders... a mother with hungery kids and tapped out credit cards can sure use that 100.00 dollars a month on food... The system need to be re-evaluated... because it is just not a fair one...

I just found your site and I am intrigued to say the least. However, I couldn't let this particular article pass by without a comment (or 2). Millions of eligible people don't get food stamps... has anyone bothered to ask WHY? Has anyone actually gone down to the food stamp office and sat on THIS side of the desk, been interrogated by a semi-gestapo looking/acting clerk, been told they were $2 over the limit, told they had EXCESS income and therefore did not qualify? When someone does actually qualify Social Services does not make it easy. Not only do you have to document every penny of your income and expenses, you have to have proof and you had better be able to justify those expenses as well. This is not a short meeting either. The applicant has to take a day off work, find the nearest office, spend the day waiting to be called and then be told, "You will receive a letter in the mail with our decision." This letter may or may not come with in the next month or so. If you are applying for Medicaid, it takes up to 6 months - and believe me they will take 6 months! So is it worth it? What do you think?

Emil, This is a nice follow up to the first article! People helping people works. Holly

"Dekiya Davis faces daunting challenges. She has cerebral palsy, she is partially paralyzed, and she is blind in one eye. She also suffers from schizoaffective disorder, which, through medication and therapy, she has under control. Her husband, Shawn Stewart, recently suffered a stroke. And Dekiya has another formidable responsibility: motherhood. Her ailments make it exceptionally difficult for her to care for her two young sons, Shawn Jr., 15 months, and Christopher, who is only a few weeks old. (Dekiya also has a 12-year-old daughter, Niema, who lives with her father’s mother.)

The Brooklyn Bureau of Community Service, one of the seven charities supported by The New York Times Neediest Cases Fund, helps parents like Dekiya care for their children and keep them from winding up in foster care. Five days a week, Yamile Angulo, who is a mother herself, comes to Dekiya’s home to prepare meals, bathe the children and take Shawn Jr. to day care.

Dekiya also receives public assistance and Social Security, but she could not afford supplies for the new baby, so the Brooklyn Bureau used Neediest Cases money to buy a crib, a stroller and clothing for Christopher."

See full article here...

Links to aid organizations in the New York area mentioned in the article:

• Children’s Aid Society
• Brooklyn Bureau of Community Service
• Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of New York
• Catholic Charities Brooklyn and Queens
• Community Service Society of New York
• Federation of Protestant Welfare Agencies
• UJA-Federation of New York

emil that is so very true! i have a disabled daugther and i pay child support for 3 other children and i work as a server getting paided 3.15hr pluse tips. i sometimes donot understand how i am able to make ends meet.

More than 3 million needy people in big cities could be getting food stamps but don't for a variety of reasons, an anti-hunger group says (see story in CNN).

That translates to $2.1 billion in unused food stamps, the Food Research and Action Center said in a report released Wednesday, Sep 28, 2005.

The Food Stamp Program is a critically important but very underutilized resource for urban America, according to the new Food Research and Action Center (FRAC) report, “Food Stamp Access in Urban America: A City-by-City Snapshot” (see full report as PDF file). The FRAC report analyzes food stamp usage and the incidence of hunger and poverty in 25 of America’s largest cities, spread out over 20 states and the District of Columbia.

An article from today's New York Times - "Feeding More for Less in Niger" by Sophia Murphy - speaks about the problems... and refers to a very informative study "U.S. Food Aid - Time to Get It Right" published recently by the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP).

Here are a few paragraphs from IATP's press release from July 27, 2005:

The report... points out that the main beneficiaries of the U.S. food aid system are agribusiness companies bidding on food aid contracts, U.S. shipping companies that transport the food internationally, and private voluntary organizations (PVOs) that rely on sales of food aid in developing countries to generate funds for their other aid work (a practice called monetization).

The report found that this unusual political alliance blocks urgently needed reforms of U.S. food aid. The U.S. practice of sending food for sale or distribution in countries facing hunger is inefficient, expensive and slow. The U.S. should move towards food aid programs based on cash for purchasing food in or near the country where food aid is required. Almost all other major food aid donors have moved away from the donation of commodities.

The report concludes, “in the name of the poor overseas, very large sums of money are now paid to prop up U.S. shipping firms and to buy food at higher than market prices from U.S. based food processors and other agribusinesses.” The report found that most food aid is self-interested and politicized, rather than focused on the needs of the hungry.