‘ADDRESSING HUNGER’
How $11.4 million in state funding helps to meet needs
The wife of Gov. Tom Wolf, elected officials along with representatives from five Pennsylvania food banks assembled at Mary’s Shelter in Reading on Thursday to announce $11.4 million in funding for food banks in the state.
Democrats from the state House and Senate plus Wolf administration members touted the new funds, which are from the federal American Rescue Plan — better known as the COVID-19 Stimulus Package — that Congress passed in March.
“There’s no mistaking that COVID-19 and the pandemic have changed our lives,” said state Sen. Judy Schwank. “One long-standing issue that was made very clear was just how many people are food insecure or on the verge of being food insecure. People are hungry. Children are hungry.
“If there’s anything useful to come out of this pandemic, we’ve learned where our weaknesses are in addressing hunger. We know now that we could do better at making sure that people not only have food to eat — but more importantly, healthy nutritious food — and available to them in a way that’s easy for them to access.”
Much of the money will purchase refrigeration for food banks such as Helping Harvest Fresh Food Bank in Spring Township and its food pantry partners in Berks and Schuylkill counties.
“This investment will allow food banks like Helping Harvest to provide cold storage facilities for our pantry partners, like here at Mary’s Shelter,” said Jay Worrall, president of Helping Harvest. “We just increased our ability to hold frozen and perishable products by 50%, but that doesn’t always help us get that product to the people that need it because we rely on our partners to do that.
“Being able to purchase cold storage and freezers and refrigerators for our pantry partners will allow us to complete that chain and get foods from the farms into our food bank and distributed to our pantry partners — and ultimately into the hands of the people who need it.”
First lady Francis Wolf also visited Mary’s Shelter on Thursday and spoke on behalf of the administration.
“It also means that we can save more excess produce from Pennsylvania farmers through the Pennsylvania Agricultural Surplus System,” Wolf said, “sharing those goods with those in need rather than sending it to our landfills.”
Why the money matters
During the pandemic, an increasing number of Americans came to rely on food banks to feed themselves or their families.
While those organizations were able to rise to the occasion and meet the needs of their communities, distributing over 400 million pounds of food to Pennsylvania residents since March 2020 alone, it also exposed cracks in the food security infrastructure.
“Like many food pantries, the items they (Mary’s Shelter) can offer people are limited to nonperishables — stuff in boxes and cans — due to a lack of refriger- ation,” Schwank said.
“Helping Harvest was one of the first food banks in the com- monwealth to understand the need to offer fresh fruits and vegetables at food banks and other sites.”
The goal is not simply to help feed people, but help them with access to quality meals, too.
“Certainly making sure everyone has access to a food bank is critical,” Schwank said. “No one in our commonwealth or in the entire United States for that matter should be going hungry.
“But we also need to make sure that people get access to food banks that have nutritious and fresh foods, and they are struggling very mightily to make that happen.”
Who the money helps
Mary’s Shelter is an organization that helps youths ages 14 to 17 and, oftentimes, is welcoming teens who not only need a place to stay, but something to eat.
The shelter’s executive director, Chris Folk, asked one of the residents, Angel, to share his story and how people dealing with food insecurity can continue to be impacted even after they receive assistance.
“I wouldn’t eat as frequently as I usually do here now, and that definitely affected me back then,” Angel said. “I know that stuff like that affects not only your past but your present because I frequently think I’m overweight but the staff usually try and remind me that I only think that now probably because I’m not used to eating three meals a day.
“I’m more accustomed to something around maybe once every three or four days.”
He also recalled coming very close to “doing something I probably would’ve regretted” before finally being referred to Mary’s Shelter.
“There are many times when we’re doing interviews that we will stop and feed them first,” Folk said.
State Rep. Manuel Guzman harkened back to his own childhood after hearing Angel’s story and used those memories and shared experiences as a reminder why the issue is so important.
“When you told your story, I instantly reverted back to being that kid on South Fourth Street with a single mom of five who struggled at times to feed us,” Guzman said. “I remember going to school and the only meal I ate that day was the meal I ate
at lunch.
“For far too many people in the City of Reading, their stories are like my stories and like Angel’s story.”
Short victory lap
Contrary to public perception, however, food insecurity is not just a problem in cities or lowincome areas, with Democrats vowing to continue addressing the need.
“Food insecurity is an everywhere problem,” Schwank said. “It’s an issue in places like here in the city, but in the rural parts of Berks County and the commonwealth as well. nobody’s immune to it and we’ve got to work together to find solutions.
To help drive home the significance of $11.4 million in new funding, representatives from food banks all over the region made the trip to Mary’s Shelter, including Central Pennsylvania Food Bank, Philabundance, Second Harvest Food Bank Lehigh Valley and York County Food Bank.
“We’re really all just so grateful for this massive investment in our charitable food network,” said Jane Clements, CEO of Feeding Pennsylvania, a statewide nonprofit association of nine food banks.
“There are 53,000 farms in Pennsylvania. For anyone to be food insecure is just unacceptable, so with investments like this we hope to continue to be able to provide nutritious food to the nearly 1.6 million Pennsylvanians facing hunger.”
Even with the new funding in hand, Schwank and Guzman plan to continue lobbying on the issue of food insecurity, they each said.
“When we’re up there in Harrisburg, Judy and I, we’re fighting for families like yours,” Guzman said. “We’re fighting for families like mine, because I know too well what that feeling is like not having enough to eat, and I know that too many of our families in Reading and across the commonwealth are going through the same.
“We’re here to fight,” the Reading resident said. “This is just the start of more investment to come.”