Funding has been awarded for emergency food and shelters in Douglas County. Joe Gigliotti reports.

Catholic Charities Bureau Developmental Services Director Terry Hendrick says the food shelf and emergency funding is a big need in the community. "Food shelf participation has increased every year for the last ten years. It has approximately doubled now what it was five years ago and it continues to increase as people look for any avenue to feed their families during these very tough economic times.”

This year, Douglas County has received more than $6,400 for food shelves and emergency shelter agencies in the county, a figure Hendrick says has plummeted the last several years. “Well, the total amount of money for Douglas County has decreased from $26,000 three years ago to about $7,000 today. It is very, very precious resource to the food shelf and the shelters in town.”

Hendrick isn’t confident that this decreased funding amount can make a big impact. “It tells you the priority that the federal government puts on food shelves and that we can no longer count on government to support food security programs for people who are in need.”

Hendrick says a local county board will meet to decide how to disburse the funds.

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