Help hungry families afford the food they need

At the Coalition Against Hunger, we are focused on increasing access to the food that people need to lead healthy lives throughout the Philadelphia region. That's why a major component of our 5-year Strategic Plan for 2022-2027 is identifying and addressing the root causes of hunger.

Understanding and combating the causes of food insecurity involves both internal and external work. Interally, our team underwent a 3-part anti-racism training throughout the month of September, and we are in the process of integrating new technologies that will allow us to very efficiently deliver our life-changing programs and gain a deep understanding of the impact our programs are having.

We know that historically marginalized communities experience food insecurity at a higher rate than average, and one of the most affected groups are immigrant families and individuals. That's why we hired Jalexa Marmolejos for the newly created role of SNAP Outreach & Hotline Counselor. Jalexa is cultivating relationships with trusted community organizations that serve Spanish speaking immigrant communities to alleviate fears and remove barriers associated with accessing food assistance programs. 

While we work to meet those exeriencing food insecurity where they are and offer immediate assistance, we recognize that change at the systemic level will be necessary to eliminate the root causes of food insecurity. At the Coalition Against Hunger we have a department dedicated to community education and legislative advocacy, and our strategic plan outlines goals to engage policy makers to take the steps necessary to eliminate systemic causes of food insecurity.

Click here to see our full Strategic Plan for 2022-2027!

JUST RELEASED: Our Annual Report for the 2021-2022 Fiscal Year

We're proud to look back at our last year and see all of the progress we made in the fight against hunger in our local communities. Over the 2021-2022 fiscal year we:

• connected over 125,000 people with vital food resources through our SNAP Hotline, anti-hunger partnerships, community events, and legislative advocacy.

• received 10,730 calls to our SNAP Hotline and our counselors completed benefit applications for 2,433 households throughout the Philadelphia region.

• redistributed 139,010 pounds of food through our Food Rescue Program to local pantries that reached 22,905 people in 7,776 households across the Philadelphia region.

• digitally surveyed and amplified the voices of those with lived experience in food insecurity, and our pantry map was used 97,565 times to find local food resources.

Click here to see our full Annual Report for 2021-2022! 

On October 20th, 2022 we hosted our annual Night to Fight Hunger at the Mann Center, our first in-person event since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

There's something very special about gathering in-person, especially after being apart for so long. We're grateful for everyone who came out to rally with us against food insecurity in our local communities by raising funds to support our work and awareness to support our mission at the Night to Fight Hunger. Guests enjoyed dinner by Di Bruno Bros., a live performance by SNACKTIME, and friendly rivalry in lawn games as well as the silent auction. We're looking forward to our next major event, the Race Against Hunger, at the Navy Yard on Saturday, September 30th, 2023!

Links:

• Coalition Against Hunger Website
• Coalition Against Hunger Strategic Plan 2022-2027
• Coalition Against Hunger Annual Report FY2021-2022

This year, as the world searches for new norms amid the continuing COVID-19 pandemic, food insecurity remains prevalent in our Philadelphia region and logistics for programs to access food are in flux.

On the governmental side, the Pennsylvania summer P-EBT (Pandemic Electronic Benefits Transfer) program was only just approved this month, September of 2022. This means that families eligible for food assistance endured the summer and this year's drastic inflation without additional support to make up for the cost of school meals that their eligible children missed out on during the summer months. Those eligible families will now receive funds retroactively to help make up for food costs over the summer.

Other local organizations like food pantries are experiencing increased demand through their programs as food and gas prices remain high. Even while working to meet this augmented need, some pantries have begun a slow return to being "choice" pantries. This means that instead of having only pre-packaged food boxes available for participants to pick up or to be delivered (a COVID-19 safety precaution), some pantries are able to welcome people into their facilities to decide what food best fits the needs of their families.

OUR SUMMER AT THE COALITION AGAINST HUNGER

As in previous years, we maintained and promoted a webpage and hotline that shared location and access information about local Summer Meals sites. The Summer Meals program provides meals and snacks to kids up to age 18 at no cost and helps supplement food needs for families whose children get meals at school while it is in session. 

One big advancement in the Coalition Against Hunger's Summer Meals offerings is that this year, for the first time, we had a live hotline available to those seeking information about the opening hours, offerings, and locations of local Summer Meals sites. This summer we referred hotline callers to 66 Summer Meals sites and our webpage was accessed 5,121 times - that's a 274% increase in webpage visits from last year.

This summer we also had the pleasure of hosting three Fox Fellows from the University of Pennsylvania. One project that they helped to complete was a survey of our VIP (Victory in Partnership) pantry network, which allowed us to gather vital information about how our local pantries are serving their communities and about their needs.We've compiled this information and began sharing it with our larger community via our email newsletter to prompt support for these pantries.

CAREFUL RETURN TO SOME IN-PERSON ACTIVITIES

Following CDC guidelines, we have been able to ease into some in-person activities here at the Coalition Against Hunger! Our team enjoyed an outdoor Wellness Picnic in June, we've attended and offered information at several outdoor community events this summer, and we are even on a staggered schedule for team members to be in the office each for one day per week. 

We are also very excited to host our first public in-person event since the outbreak of COVID-19. The Night to Fight Hunger is back and will take place on October 20th at the Mann Center for the Performing Arts. The event is outdoors and will feature musical guest SNACKTIME, dinner by Di Bruno Bros, fun lawn games, and more!

Links:

• The Night to Fight Hunger
• Hunger Action Month at the Coalition Against Hunger