YES, HUNGER CAN THREATEN WEST VALLEY RESIDENTS.

Byline: Claire M. Hoffman

``People think of Woodland Hills as not needing a food pantry,'' Margaret Shively, one of the coordinators of the West Valley Food Pantry, states in frustration. Even members of her own church have suggested that a place where hungry people can go, as a last resort, is unnecessary in their middle-class neighborhood.

Yet, the West Valley Food Pantry feeds 600 to 650 families a month. During November and December, the number jumps to 800. Each family who comes to the pantry receives a three-day supply of food, and everyone is treated with respect. The pantry volunteers' motto is ``Treat each person with dignity.''

Respect for needy families is important to the volunteers because many of them recognize their own friends and neighbors standing in line. One volunteer saw her daughter's former Girl Scouts leader. The Scout leader had organized many troop food drives for the pantry.

Most of the volunteers are retirees, and many can see themselves in the faces of the older people who walk in the door. ``My husband and I are on Social Security and, if that's all we had, I would be standing in that line,'' said Shively, who, along with Jeanne Bain, has coordinated the donations and the 160 volunteers for the last seven years.

Most of the pantry patrons are the working poor or retirees on Social Security. When the food stamps are gone, and the minimum-wage paychecks or Social Security benefits can't stretch to the end of the month, they must swallow their pride and stand in line to fill their families' stomachs.

Food pantries are the final stopping point in our country's safety net. That safety net is being dismantled with little respect for the dignity of people who have worked all their lives but are struggling to survive.

At the pantry, volunteers see the daily reality of people whose lives depend on Social Security. Most who are retiring today have pension plans and medical programs in addition to Social Security benefits, but many still need a helping hand. Without Social Security, around half of elderly America would live below the poverty line.

This does not bode well for the future. After the corporate restructuring and massive downsizing of the last decade, and with Medicare close to bankruptcy, benefits once considered an employee's right will be history for the baby boomers who will begin to retire in 2010.

Two of the three plans suggested last week by the Advisory Council on Social Security would remove the guarantee of benefits for all contributors. Each plan suggests that a portion of current surplus funds be risked on the stock exchange with the hope that successful investments will keep the Social Security program solvent in the future. But, if the laws of physics apply to the stock market, then what goes up may very well come down. If the market fails and no guarantees exist, then those on the bottom rung of the boomer work force will lose the benefits for which they are currently paying. This will leave many boomers at the mercy of California's welfare program that our governor has promised to make ``tougher'' and, in the process, more humiliating.

Many people don't want to deal with the realization that they are only a few missing paychecks and an empty bank account away from needing a helping hand. It takes months to lose your house or your car, but hunger strikes quickly when the money is gone and the cupboards are empty. For families in this situation, the West Valley Food Pantry is their last hope.

Over the holidays donations are high, but donations dry up beginning in January. Until two years ago, the federal government supplied cheese, butter, powdered milk, corn, macaroni and peanut butter. Now such assistance comes once in a great while. The pantry received a shipment of peanut butter last month for the first time in two years.

The pantry can't afford to replace food the federal government no longer sends. Social services have been cut to balance the budget. Further belt tightening by the state of California on the stomachs of the poor will add to the burden the pantry already faces every day. As social programs continue to be cut, local residents will need to take action to preserve this vital community service.

The food pantry needs donations year-around. Volunteers would love to have those extra oranges and lemons from your trees or any donations you wish to give, however small. A bag of lemons and a $10 bill will help - a lot. Think of it as if you're helping your next-door neighbor. You are. And someday you might need the favor returned.

P.S. The Souper Bowl is coming. No, that's not a typo. The Souper Bowl is a Charity Drive started by a pastor in Columbia, S.C. Its simple. On or before Super Bowl weekend, grab a soup bowl and have everyone at your office, school, church or temple throw in a dollar. Donate all of the money to your local food pantry. Nationwide, Souper Bowl gathered $1.3 million for the hungry last year. (That's $100,000 less then it costs for a 30-second beer commercial during the game). For more information call (800) 358-GROUP.