Miami Herald - January 5, 2006
Angela Tablac, atablac@MiamiHerald.com

The Fort Lauderdale-area-based Cooperative Feeding Program, in its 2005 fiscal year, delivered 1.2 million meals to about 73,300 people in Broward County, a 24 percent jump over 2004, said Marti Forman, the program's CEO. Its fiscal year runs from October to September.

"We have become a rich person's town," Forman said. "To rent the worst apartment in Broward County, you have to make a pretty good amount of money."

The Cooperative Feeding Program, a small-budget charity providing food, supplies and other support across the county, said 2005 was the busiest year in the group's 20-year history.

Forman attributed the increase to a number of factors, including the fact that affordable housing is quickly disappearing in Broward. Low-income residents have been increasingly forced out of their apartments and into dependence on organizations such as The Cooperative Feeding Program.

When people must choose between paying a bill or getting a meal, they tend to skip the food, she said.

Hurricanes Katrina and Wilma also contributed to residents' need for help, said Bruce Harris, the group's development director.

'[Katrina] hit before the 15th of the month, when people get their paychecks,' he said.

And food banks in Broward have been struggling to keep up with the demand, said Forman, who pointed to the closing of many other food agencies as another possible factor in the group's increase. It's the second-straight year for the increase; in 2004, the numbers increased by 30 percent, she said.

At the agency's headquarters off Northwest 33rd Terrace and Broward Boulevard on Wednesday, people combed through boxes of clothing and food. Fort Lauderdale residents Cathy Rasbin and her daughter, Joanna Hodges, placed food from the boxes into a plastic bag.

Rasbin has received help from the organization since 1996, when she was a single mother with two children.

"Without this program, I don't know what I'd do because I'm on fixed income because I have AIDS," she said.

To receive support from the program, a resident must have a referral from a social worker or agency. The organization tracks how many residents are served each year because each person must register and present identification each time he receives food.

For the past two months, William H. Bruce's main source of a hot meal and a hot shower has been the program.

Bruce, who is homeless and lives on the street, lost his right leg in a car accident in August 2003. Without a job and only Medicaid to live on, he could not survive without a daily visit to The Cooperative Feeding Program, he said.

"I think it's wonderful," he said outside the building as he stood behind his wheelchair. 'It's my life right now."

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