STREATOR, Ill. -- Wes Kruse, local Salvation Army commander, has 680 pounds of moldy government cheese on his hands and said Thursday he's stuck in a 'Catch 22 situation.'
He can't give it away to the poor because his Salvation Army superiors say people shouldn't be given 'garbage.'
He can't scrape the mold off and give it away because guidelines for the federal cheese program prohibit him from distributing 'any cheese that is open or tampered with.'
And when he tried to throw it away, people who might not have qualified for the cheese under low income guidelines retrieved it from a dumpster.
Kruse said the moldy cheese wasn't really 'bad,' just a little moldy.
'It's a Catch 22 situation,' he said.
The cheese apparently developed mold around the edges while in storage at federal warehouses. It is sealed in plastic and packaged in cardboard boxes.
Kruse's supervisor, Capt. Howard Pettys in Peoria, said while there is no written policy on what distributors should do with moldy cheese, he thought it should not be given away.
'It's a common sense thing. You wouldn't want to give away something that isn't right,' he said. 'People are poor, but they don't have to take garbage.'
The Salvation Army in Streator has distributed 3,972 five-pound blocks of cheese since August to people who qualify for low-income requirements set by state.
Under an agreement with the Salvation Army, Fox Industries and the National Guard have been distributing cheese and will continue through January.
