Dear Friends,

September is #Hunger Action Month - a month dedicated to raising awareness of the hunger crisis and working towards a more food secure world! We hope you’ll join us in taking action each day this month. If you haven’t already done so, download our 30 Ways in 30 Days calendar, and share it with your friends and family. Then, follow the calendar throughout the month and take action to end hunger across our region. Be sure to follow our socials as well, where we will post more information each day. 

One way to take action is to join us safely outdoors on Thursday, October 14, 2021, for the Greater Philadelphia Coalition Against Hunger's Night to Fight Hunger Gala, at the beautiful, spacious Mann Center for the Performing Arts. Enjoy a night filled with programming and an auction, all while raising critical funds to put an end to food insecurity. Proceeds from the event will support our work supporting food pantries and soup kitchens, helping thousands of people navigate the SNAP application process through our SNAP Hotline and advocating with and on behalf of those facing food insecurity. Purchase your ticket or sponsorship package today! And if you won't be able to join us on October 14, please consider making a donation to support our work.

Policy and Advocacy

September is here, and with it lots of activity and updates on the policy front. 

First, a time-sensitive reminder: We know many families in our area are still recovering from the damage caused by Hurricane Ida. If you know anyone who receives SNAP and lost food due to power outages, flooding, etc., they may qualify for replacement benefits. See this flyer from Community Legal Services (CLS) that explains all the details and provides the form needed to report lost food. NOTE – Requests must be made within 10 days of when food spoiled, so the deadline is nearly here. You can:

• Call the Customer Service Center at 215-560-7229 (Philadelphia), or, 877-395-8930 (statewide)
• Call, or go into, your local County Assistance Office (CAO). CAOs are now open for in-person assistance. You can find office phone and address information for all PA CAOs here.

Now, onto USDA’s Household Food Security in the United States in 2020 report, which was released on Wednesday. While the rate of food insecurity for US households as a whole was unchanged since 2019 (10.5%), the data once again reveal the disparate impact of the pandemic upon Black and Hispanic households, and all households with children. Rates of food insecurity were statistically significantly higher for:

• Black (21.7%) and Hispanic (17.2%) households
• All households with children (14.8% - and even higher for Households with children under age six at 15.3%)
• Households with children headed by a single woman (27.7%) or a single man (16.3%)

Also of note, just 55% of food-insecure households in the survey reported that in the previous month they participated in one or more of the three largest federal nutrition assistance programs: SNAP; Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC); and National School Lunch Program. While a subset of food insecure households may be over the income limits for these programs, this measure is a powerful reminder that there is more work to be done to make it easier for families in need to access and remain connected to the federal nutrition programs. You can read more about the unacceptably high levels of food insecurity from our national partners FRAC, as well as local coverage in the Philadelphia Inquirer.

We also want to keep you in the loop on the ongoing uncertainty surrounding Pennsylvania’s WIC program.  In our last update, we shared that the PA Department of Health (DOH) abruptly announced it would cancel the transition to new WIC agencies that were to begin their contracts in 2022. WIC agencies and advocates continue to try to get clear information – and assurances of some stability for clients – but solid answers remain elusive. You can see more here.

Lastly, on a more positive note, yesterday the U.S. House Committee on Education and Labor was scheduled to mark up its portion of the Build Back Better Act (BBB), which includes nearly $35 billion in funding for the Child Nutrition Programs. Details on the child nutrition provisions proposed in BBB can be found here.

Food Pantry & Soup Kitchens

In August, six Coalition VIP (Victory in Partnership) members were connected to additional food resources through our Food Rescue Program and, as a result, these food pantries were able to distribute an additional 14,360 pounds of food to 1970 individuals in 680 households in their community.  If you are interested in learning more about the Coalition’s Food Rescue Program and being added to the member waitlist, please contact Derek Felton at [email protected].

SNAP Hotline

Our Coalition Against Hunger SNAP Hotline team is here to help! Whether it’s navigating the SNAP application process or providing case management, our SNAP Hotline team is available to help Monday – Thursday from 9:00am to 5:00 pm and on Friday from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm. Give our SNAP Hotline team a call at 215-430-0556.

And if you are looking to visit the County Assistance Offices (CAO), they are now open for in-person assistance. You can contact their Customer Service Center at 215-560-7226 (Philadelphia) or 877-395-8930 (statewide).