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Resident warns commissioners that hunger in Klamath County is rising and urges early mitigation
Summary
A resident told the Klamath County Board on Aug. 5 that food assistance demand has increased sharply at a downtown meal program and urged the county to plan for rising food insecurity and to preserve services such as bus routes and medical-appointment transportation.
A resident identified in the public-comment period urged the Klamath County Board of Commissioners on Aug. 5 to address growing hunger and economic hardship in the county, saying demand at a twice-weekly church meal program has risen markedly.
The speaker said the meal program at the Methodist church on Main Street has grown from “like, 30, 40 meals on a given Sunday to 80 meals on a given Sunday” and that a recent Tuesday saw “140 people show up asking for food.” The speaker said these trends point to broader food insecurity in downtown Klamath County and across the county and urged the board to consider mitigation steps now to avoid worse outcomes later.
The resident warned that early impacts will fall first on seniors, people on fixed incomes and working poor households, and that the effects could spread to families later. He cited a revised national jobs report and said, “those sectors are going to be absolutely devastated by $900,000,000,000 in cuts to Medicaid,” attributing the magnitude to broader fiscal changes he said will affect local services. The speaker recommended preserving “basic public functions, like the bus service and other public utilities” and strengthening food-assistance planning and service access. He urged planning so people can get to medical appointments and so residents are fed before the problem grows larger.
The remarks were delivered during the public-comment portion of the meeting. The board did not take formal action on the topic during the session; the comment was recorded for the public record and the chair acknowledged the speaker.
