Strapped students turn to food banks

SEATTLE -- Just blocks from the University of Washington, people in a line shuffle toward a food pantry, awaiting handouts such as milk and bread.

For years, the small University District pantry has offered help to the working poor and single parents in the neighborhood of campus rentals. Now rising food prices are bringing another group: Struggling college students.

"Right now, with things the way they are, a lot of students just can't afford to eat," said Terry Capleton, who started a Facebook group called "I Ain't Afraid to be on Food Stamps" when he was a student at Benedict College in South Carolina.

Some of the students are working their way through college with grants, loans and part-time jobs. Others are just reluctant to ask parents for more money.

"A lot of students can't call their mom every day to ask for that extra fifty dollars," said Capleton, 24. "They're on their own."

At the University District pantry in Seattle, demand has risen roughly 25 percent this year. About 150 students visit each week during the school year.

Qualifying for aid at community food banks is usually easy. Most of the charities just require users to show identification proving they live in the area.

The Community College of Denver runs its own food-assistance program, which has seen demand double in the past year.

"It's the highest I've ever seen," said Jerry Mason, the school's director of student life.

In response to demand, the school doubled the pantry's $3,000 annual budget.

Food stamps are distributed through a Department of Agriculture program administered by the states. But the agency does not track whether applicants are enrolled in college, so the number of students is unknown.

Students generally are eligible for food stamps if they qualify for a state or federally funded work-study program; work at least 20 hours per week; have a child under the age of 12; or are taking employer-sponsored job training classes.

Deirdre Wilson, a junior at Francis Marion University in Florence, S.C., applied for food stamps in November because her paycheck from a work-study job didn't stretch far enough to cover her expanding grocery bill.

"Before, when I lived in the dorms, I was on the meal plan," the 20-year-old said. "Now that I'm in the apartment, I have to pay for food, and I have to pay my cell phone bill. I don't make enough to pay for both."