Dear Friends,

We are excited to share some more changes to our team. Katie Milholin, who was previously our Community Educator, started last week as our Director of Policy and Education. Please join us in congratulating Katie on her new role! We are so lucky to have her on our team and now leading our policy and education efforts.

This also means that we are now looking to hire a Community Educator. This position will be responsible for growing awareness and understanding around the issue of food insecurity, our programs at the Coalition and increasing SNAP enrollment across the Greater Philadelphia region. To learn more about this position and submit an application, see our listing on Idealist. We look forward to further growing our team as we work to build a community where all people have the food they need to lead healthy lives.

Policy and Advocacy

Federal Public Health Emergency: The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced another 90-day extension of the federal COVID-19 Public Health Emergency (PHE) from January 16, 2022 - April 16, 2022. SNAP Emergency Allotments (EAs) - the extra SNAP dollars households get in the second half of the month – are tied to the federal PHE. Because it has been extended, the Department of Human Services (DHS) can continue to seek approval from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) to continue distributing EAs in Pennsylvania for at least a few more months. As a reminder, EAs were distributed in January, and we will continue to update you on the status of EAs in future months.  

COVID-19 Tests: As the Omicron surge continues, the government has begun offering free COVID-19 tests kits to US households. Each household in the US is entitled to 4 free at-home COVID-19 test kits (regardless of the number of people in your household), which are shipped directly to your door. Order your COVID-19 at-home test kits, here.

Save the Date

The Race Against Hunger is back for our 26th year, and for the first time ever, we've added biking! Be sure to save the dates, April 22, 2022 - May 1, 2022, and participate wherever and whenever is most convenient for you. That's right, the Race Against Hunger will be virtual again this year, making it even easier for you to join us in walking, running or biking to raise awareness and funds to fight hunger and support our neighbors in the Greater Philadelphia area. Registration begins February 11th. More details coming soon.

Food Pantry & Soup Kitchens

If you are a food pantry or soup kitchen leader in the Philadelphia area, we would love for your team to join the Race Against Hunger this year, and fundraise for your program! Please contact Tanya at [email protected] for a Race Against Hunger Agreement and paperwork so we can get your team’s online fundraising page set-up before registration opens on February 11th!

School's Out Meal Program

Philadelphia Parks and Recreation is making sure children are well nourished when schools are closed and will once again be offering free meals to students this Tuesday, February 1, when the School District is closed for the Lunar New Year. Learn more and find the nearest participating Parks and Recreation sites, here.

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 9:00 am 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 open for in-person assistance. You can visit their offices or contact their Customer Service Center at 215-560-7226 (Philadelphia) or 877-395-8930 (statewide). For phone numbers and addresses of all Philadelphia County Assistance offices, please use this link.