RACINE — Every other Tuesday the line outside the Racine Municipal Building starts to form with those waiting to receive food in full view of those driving by who might think to themselves “there but for the Grace of God go I.”

The line is for the Friends & Neighbors Community Food Center which operates out of the municipal building every other Tuesday. Volunteers set up around 4 p.m. and start serving clients at 5 p.m., staying open often until 7:30 p.m.

Friends & Neighbors Food Center, a 501 (c) (3) organization, has been operating out of the Racine Municipal Building for over two years now and serves an estimated 1,000 clients in Meigs County annually. Last night, the food center was expecting around 100 clients.

Lisa Roberts, coordinator of the food center, said in the last two years she has seen an “absolute increase” in clientele.

“The supply does not meet the need,” Roberts said.

Roberts explained the food center sees many of the same clients but also new faces who are “just not making it,” even with two or even three jobs. In addition to what some call the “working poor,” the food center also serves the elderly who are too old to work. Roberts guessed in the past few months she is seeing the effects of budget cuts to state agencies that many individuals, who are already struggling to survive, rely upon.

This week the U.S. Department of Agriculture released a report claiming in 2008, 85 percent of U.S. households were food secure through the entire year and 14.6 percent of households were food insecure at least some time during that year which is up from 11.1 percent in 2007. This translates into the highest recorded prevalence rate of food insecurity since 1995 when the first national food security survey was conducted.

Also according to the report, in Ohio, 13.3 percent of households had trouble feeding their families which breaks down into roughly 600,000 households. Ohio’s food insecurity rate was near the national average as was the rate for neighboring state West Virginia at 12 percent. Mississippi had the highest percentage of households described as food insecure at 17.4 percent while North Dakota had a low rate of 2.6 percent. Data for three years, 2006-09, were combined to provide more reliable statistics at the state level.

At the local level, Ruth Congo and Nancy Scarbrough are both Meigs County volunteers for the food center. Both Congo and Scarbrough say volunteering is rewarding and heartbreaking at the same time. The women recalled stories of clients, including a woman who couldn’t read or write to fill out the forms to receive food and countless others, many with children, who are sincerely grateful for the giveaway.

Roberts said the food center uses USDA guidelines when determining someone’s eligibility to receive the food but stressed no one is turned away.

The Southeast Ohio Regional Food Center out of Logan supplies the food to the Racine operation but Roberts said donations are always needed and welcomed. Currently, the Racine food center needs canned and non-perishable food items, frozen items, meat and welcomes deer meat from hunters. These items can be dropped off at the Racine Municipal Building during regular business hours.

For more information on the Friends & Neighbors Food Center, call Roberts at 667-0684.