Most people think of hunger and nutritional problems as just occurring in poor, underdeveloped or war-torn countries, but it exists here in our own backyard of central Pennsylvania and one organization — the Central Pennsylvania Food Bank — is trying to do something about that. September is Hunger Action Month, and the people at the Central Pennsylvania Food Bank are marking this through their involvement in this activity, which helps to shine a light on the problem of hunger.

“The Central Pennsylvania Food Bank is mission-driven: fighting hunger, improving lives, and strengthening communities. Hunger Action Month is key to our mission as we connect with everyone in the community to raise awareness on the continued fight against hunger.” Carla Fisher, marketing & communications coordinator, told Webb Weekly. “The feeling of running on empty is a reality for more than five million Pennsylvanians. We need to make sure that no child, adult or senior in our communities ever runs on empty, so this September, we’re asking everyone to come together to help end hunger.”

September is Hunger Action Month when the Central Pennsylvania Food Bank joins others across America to take action in fighting hunger across our communities. Hunger Action Month is your opportunity to join a movement that has a real and lasting impact on our effort to feed more Americans than ever before. Whether it’s by advocating and raising awareness, making donations, or volunteering, individuals can find the way that’s right for them to make a difference during Hunger Action Month.

By visiting the Food Bank online at https://www.centralpafoodbank.org/HungerActionMonth, you can stay involved throughout the month by downloading the Hunger Action Month Calendar under ‘Participate.’

Here is a little about the Central Pennsylvania Food Bank and what they have done and still do to battle the problem of hunger in this area.

What started as a one-day demonstration project on World Food Day in 1981 to address the needs of families struggling with hunger has now turned into the largest non-profit food distribution organization in central Pennsylvania.

The Central Pennsylvania Food Bank (under the umbrella of Feeding America and Feeding Pennsylvania) serves 27 counties from the border of Maryland to the border of New York. For more than 30 years there have been many positive changes to the organization, including expansions to both healthy food hub locations in Harrisburg and Williamsport to better serve the community.

By working with more than 1,000 local agencies, the Central Pennsylvania Food Bank provided over 46 million meal since 2017.

They serve more than 140,000 neighbors in need each month in the 27 counties.

Food is a basic need for people to be healthy, engaged citizens.

The demand for food continues to rise. In Pennsylvania, one in nine residents, including one in six children, face food insecurity, according to Feeding America. Based on these statistics, the Food Bank announced a ten-year Bold Goal of providing access to enough nutritious food for everyone struggling with hunger in each of the 27 central Pennsylvania counties they serve, and they will convene and nurture partnerships to make progress toward ending hunger by 2025.

Expansion of the Williamsport facility was critical to achieving the Bold Goal.

In 2016, the Williamsport Healthy Food Hub went through capital improvements and increased their distribution of more than 1.2 million pounds of fresh food in its first year.

– Healthy Food Hub transformed from 17,000 square feet to 30,000 square feet
– Dry storage space: expanded from 7,200 square feet to 11,264 square feet
– 1,000 rack spaces for at least 1 million pounds of food
– Trucks docks increased from 1 to 4

The capital improvements at the Williamsport facility will enable the Food Bank to obtain, handle and distribute fresher local farm food products, such as fruits, vegetables, milk, and other dairy items at a lower cost to serve our neighbors in need. The expansion helped our local farms continue to reduce food waste, ensuring that millions more pounds of wholesome food reach family dinner tables instead of landfills.

The need in our community (Northern Tier):
– With a population of 785,000 in the Northern Tier counties, 109,510 individuals are food insecure – 14 percent of the population
– Of those individuals, 22 percent, or 33,660 are children
– 65 percent of those served live at or below federal poverty levels

Rural hunger is the most costly due to dispersed population and limited community programs. They serve the 13 Northern counties of central Pennsylvania: Bradford, Centre, Clearfield, Clinton, Columbia, Lycoming, Montour, Northumberland, Potter, Snyder, Sullivan, Tioga and Union.

The programs of the Central Pennsylvania Food Bank reach more than 140,000 neighbors each month and include ElderShare, MilitaryShare (aimed at veterans in the community), Fresh Express, BackPack Programs, Kids Café, Summer Pantries, and Summer Feeding.

How the Food Bank works:

The Food Bank solicits, inventories and distributes food and other donated products to more than 1,000 partner agencies (food pantries, soup kitchens, shelters, etc.) that directly serve people struggling with hunger. In 2017, the Food Bank distributed over 55 million pounds of nutritional food. That is the equivalent of 46 million meals!