MCLEANSVILLE, N.C. -- Tameka Bedgood is having a good day. At 9 a.m. Wednesday morning, she learned she received all the back pay from missing out on food stamps for the past three months.
Within an hour, she was on her way to the grocery store to fill her cabinets, freezers and refrigerator. You'll remember we met Tameka on Tuesday after she called WFMY News 2 in tears. We took her concerns directly to the new DSS interim Director, Myra Thompson, who said someone would be looking into her case that afternoon.
Tameka hadn't received her food stamps since December and she had promised her two young daughters she would fix the problem.
A viewer called us after her story aired because she wanted to help. That viewer, Angela Willis, picked up Tameka and took her to the grocery store to stock up. She also gave Tameka $100 to help. "I've had individuals that have helped me before and I felt like I was in a position right now to be able to pay it forward and that's what I wanted to do," said Willis.
The food stamp mess still isn't over, some families are still waiting. We wanted to know why the massive backlog took so long to discover.
We asked that question to Guilford County Commissioner Ray Trapp, who's also on the DSS Board. He says the backlog problem never reached the board level. He says board members only learned of the problem when they had to call in people from the state.
We asked the same question to new DSS interim Director Myra Thompson. She says she wasn't closely involved with DSS at the time so she didn't know there was a problem.
The DSS office is still taking calls from people who haven't received their food stamps yet. The number to call is 641-3100. Director Thompson says workers have been inundated with calls and they're doing their best to take care of every issue.
