(July 16, 2008)--Rising food and gasoline prices are leading to tough times for some Central Texans who are struggling simply to put food on the table at day's end, and even residents with steady jobs and seemingly healthy incomes are turning to local pantries for help.
"A really faced paced day we would do like 50 families and now it's nothing to have a 100,” said Gerald Farris of the Killeen Food Care Center.
“In fact we had 120 families one day last week."
Farris says the Food Care Center is seeing a change in who is showing up for help.
"There's a working class now that's needing some, where it was just some folks that fixed incomes and all that, that needed it before."
Margie Presas is a single mother with a steady job, but she’s finding it impossible to make ends meet.
"It's kind of one of those things that I feel bad, but it's like that's the only way that I can put food on our table," Presas said.
When Presas can balance time between home and work she puts in extra hours, but in the end, a world of rising prices brings her back in search of a helping hand.
"Sometimes it's just not enough,” Presas says. “Coming here is kind of a lift off the shoulders."
What's worse, as the need goes up, donations are dropping, which is forcing the Food Care Center to spend more cash on groceries.
That bill has quadrupled.
Lloyd Plummer is seeing the same thing when he makes a trip to the grocery store.
"It's becoming a lot more expensive,” Plummer said.
“You have to budget yourself. Certain things that you try to get, I only get what I really need, not what I want."
Plummer spends a lot of time in and out of the hospital.
He now visits the center once a month as his budget tightens.
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