By Donna Beth Weilenman
Staff Reporter

Faced with an economy that is threatening the grants and donations needed by the Community Action Council, Families in Transition and the Benicia Human Services Board, some of the agencies’ leaders decided to get cooking.

Literally: To raise funds, they’re offering dinners for sale.

Viola Robertson, CAC executive director, decided against ham and turkey — too soon after the holidays, she said — and is instead planning dinners featuring barbecue ribs or chicken, with a third option of fried chicken.

Robertson didn’t worry that many residents may associate barbecue with summer. She believes that after Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s people are ready for something different.

Residents have until Jan. 19 to place their orders for the home-style dinners, which will be prepared and either available for pick-up at the CAC or delivered from noon to 4 p.m. on Jan. 29.

Robertson and her team of CAC cooks, who have plenty of experience in the kitchen because the agency makes meals for delivery to local seniors, have a menu that gives purchasers the three options. For those who can’t select just one, they may pair two of the meats on a combination plate.

She didn’t forget the sides. All dinners come with potato salad, greens, cornbread, baked beans and a dessert.

Robertson and other agency leaders are upbeat about the meals, promoting them with such reminders as “No need to worry about getting barbecue sauce on your shirt!” since diners get to feast at home. They even suggest neighbors get together, order the meals, and enjoy dining informally together.

But if they’re having fun encouraging the sales, they’re serious about the reason behind the barbecue dinners.

“The needs are increasing,” said Maria Teresa Matthews, president of Families in Transition, an agency that helps residents when they run into unexpected financial difficulties. The agency operates solely on donations and uses no money for administration costs.

Just as the needs are rising among residents, donations to city charities are down. With Benicia as well as other government agencies facing reduced revenues, grants the organizations could use to help their clients also are threatened.

The purpose of the fundraiser is simple, Matthews said: “To have the money to provide the services. It’s a community effort — and it’s an excellent meal!” And while people dine on the homestyle food, she said, “They get the great satisfaction of supporting a nonprofit!”

Carla Juell, CAC operations manager, said her agency, like FIT, is seeing new clients who have never needed social services before.
She and Robertson describe the CAC as a “one-stop” place for those who need food, clothing, help finding jobs and other aid during the financial crisis.

“They’re struggling. Their unemployment has stopped, or they’re having a hard time with the wages they are earning,” Juell said. Some are having trouble meeting even basic needs, getting to the point they must choose between paying utilities, rent or mortgage, and food, she said.

And the jobs that would provide a sustainable wage are getting fewer, Juell added.

Robertson agreed. She’s heard people refer newly unemployed individuals to fast-food restaurants, saying, “They’re hiring!”

But the three women stressed that minimum-wage jobs, or even those paying $10 to $12 an hour, can’t support an individual in Benicia.

“You can’t survive,” Robertson said. “Those jobs work you 15 to 20 hours a week.” Juell agreed, explaining that apartment rents in Benicia begin at $800 to $1,000 a month. Food and utility costs take even more from the paycheck, and for those seeking jobs or having to commute, hikes in gasoline prices are causing extra pain.

Juell said residents here need to make between $18 and $20 an hour in a full-time week, and she hasn’t seen many jobs of that type available. She said individuals need to earn that much not only to cover living expenses but also the cost of commuting. “To get that, you have to go across the bridge,” she said.

Some Benicians have decided to cross that bridge for good.

“More and more people have to leave town. They can’t afford to stay. They’re leaving a safe environment where the schools are good. It’s sad that things are beyond their control,” Juell said.

Robertson said she suspects that up to one-quarter of Benicia’s residents may be in trouble, even if they haven’t yet sought help from Families in Transition or Community Action Council. “You can only stretch a dollar so far,” she said.

The women are asking residents to help their neighbors by spending some of those dollars on dinner.

Hungry?
The fried chicken dinner and the barbecued chicken dinner are $11 per person. The pork ribs dinner is $14 per person, and the combination plate of two meat choices is $16 per person. Each comes with the full set of side dishes. Orders may be placed by calling the CAC office, 745-0900, by Jan. 19. Dinners must be ordered and purchased in advance. Credit card payments will be accepted. Dinners may be picked up from noon to 5 p.m. at the CAC office, 480 Military East.