Help hungry families afford the food they need

During these unprecedented times, the Greater Philadelphia Coalition Against Hunger is working harder than ever to connect individuals and families to the food resources they need. As the saying goes, the only constant is change. We know that families throughout the Philadelphia region are already juggling many challenges, a task that is likely to get tougher as the new school year starts.

This fall, the Coalition Against Hunger is working in the following ways to address food insecurity across the Philadelphia region…

Immediate Relief

The Coalition is supporting our local Food Pantry and Soup Kitchens through our Food Rescue Program which is designed to provide additional food resources to VIP (Victory in Partnership) members. During the pandemic, demand for food has been substantially higher than this same time in 2019. Over the past three months alone, The Coalition connected food pantries and soup kitchens to 51,050 lbs. of food for 2,247 households and 6,743 people. We are bracing for an even busier fall as children who normally receive free and reduced lunch will not have this meal available as schools remain closed and using both virtual and hybrid schooling because of COVID-19.

Short-term Relief

With the end of Pandemic Unemployment Compensation (PUC) and continued economic hardship, we are seeing a steady increase in calls to our SNAP Hotline. The Coalition has increased the number of counselors processing SNAP applications and making food pantry referrals to struggling families still desperately in need of food due to recent unemployment and the lack of new opportunities as businesses are still unable to operate at full capacity due to social distancing guidelines. Our SNAP Hotline has seen a 60% increase in volume since March 2020 and we do not anticipate it getting any better throughout the rest of the year.

Long-term Relief

The Coalition will continue to work with partners to ramp up the pressure on the USDA to extend child nutrition waivers that will allow families to more easily access meals for their children while schools are closed.