Friday, August 20, 1999
Food banks Y2K-ready
Agencies stockpile food 'just in case'
BY SUSAN VELA
The Cincinnati Enquirer
At least one Northern Kentucky food bank is stockpiling canned goods while other regional agencies serving low-income people are thinking about hoarding flashlights, can openers and batteries to prepare for any Y2K computer glitches that could accompany the turn of the century.
Representatives say they are responding to the concerns, anxieties and even hysteria that has arisen from the hype that computers could think it is 1900 — instead of 2000 — on the first day of the new year, which then could stymie the delivery of Social Security, welfare and work checks.
Their concerns are prompting some to form a Northern Kentucky emergency assistance team that could begin meeting within the next month to address potential problems for lower-income people.
"You never know'
“Low-income people are not going to be stockpiling,” said Susan Sumner of Catholic Social Services, who organized a seminar last week on possible challenges. “These folks are dealing with the basics from day to day. Looking toward the future is not something that is often (done) by this population of people.”
Tom Dorman, executive director of Action Ministries, said the agency's Fairview food bank has been stockpiling canned goods and water for the past two months, just in case.
The food bank already has saved about 200 cases of canned soups, fruits, beans and vegetables, which are being hoarded around the county in churches, warehouses and school buildings. Mr. Dorman hopes to accrue another 300 to 500 cases before 2000.
“You never know,” he said. “It doesn't hurt to prepare, so we will be prepared.”
Linda Young, executive director of Welcome House, a Covington-based homeless shelter, is in charge of starting the Northern Kentucky emergency assistance team. She doubts that Y2K problems will affect the region, but she said it's still smart to plan.
Stockpiling supplies
Welcome House is planning to stock up on can openers, flashlights and blankets.
“I'm not an alarmist,” she said. But “if there should be an emergency, there needs to be a safety net.”
Meanwhile, she doesn't believe there will be a problem with food. The Welcome House, Henry Hosea of Newport and Parish Kitchen Kitchen of Covington receive their largest food donations around Christmas.
Jennifer Griola, who is in charge of disaster services at the Newport-based social services agency Brighton Center, said that the agency plans to have plenty of food, blankets, flashlights and clothing on hand at the new millennium — just as it does every day of the year.
She doesn't want to do much more than that because she said she doesn't want to increase Y2K hysteria.
She has heard that some people have stockpiled guns because they believe that the ringing in of the new year will bring mass looting and they want to be prepared. There's also the story of a woman who bought a $4,000 Y2K preparation kit.
“The more that hype is created,” she said, “the more people get concerned. I don't want that extreme concern.”
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