by Sara Spigener
Athens-Clarke County is slated to receive $38,325 in emergency food and shelter aid, but local agencies fear that this will not be enough to meet the area’s growing need.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency is distributing funds made possible by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. Several agencies are vying for a piece of this stimulus money because they worry that donations will not be able to keep up with the steady increase in need in Clarke County.
Many agencies cite the economy as the primary reason for the sharp increase in need over the last eight to 10 months. People are seeing their work hours get cut, and many are losing their jobs altogether. While donations are holding steady for now, the agencies fear that they will not be able to meet demand in the near future without an increase in aid.
“People who have worked their whole lives are now needing assistance,” said Kim Ramos, director of the Athens Emergency Food Bank.
-Edited by Bailey Keiger
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Sara and Bailey,
ReplyDeleteYou've labeled this a feature, but it's a solid newsy post. It's an interesting story, and there's good reporting and writing here. You could probably trim the last sentence of your third paragraph, because it basically repeats stuff you've already said. Nice kicker quote for this post.