Beyond the Table | March 2025

In this series, Beyond the Table, we explore the root causes of hunger across our service area, spotlight the advocates working to address those issues and share ways you can join in to help us seek long-term solutions for our communities. Together, we can go beyond the table and work toward a future where everyone has the resources they need to thrive.

Food Insecurity in Beaver County

Beaver County is known for its beautiful parks, spacious farmlands and history tied to the coal and steel industries. Like Armstrong County, where we focused on last month, Beaver County is considered a rural county in southwestern PA. Hunger is a problem in every part of the United States, but it is more common in rural areas.

Food insecurity increased by more than 20% since last year in Beaver County, Pennsylvania. Right now, 21,000 people in Beaver County are experiencing food insecurity, including 1 in 5 children who may not have enough to eat. Seniors, too, are at risk, with 6% living below the poverty line in Beaver County.

There are many reasons why hunger is more common in rural areas like Beaver County including limited transportation, low wages and underemployment. People in rural areas often live far away from the closest grocery store and lack access to public transportation that might help neighbors get to the store. Where public transportation does exist, long bus rides to the nearest major city are often cost prohibitive.  Jobs in rural areas often pay low wages and don’t offer full-time hours which can make it difficult to afford food even if neighbors work multiple jobs.

As part of our Strategic Plan, we are committed to addressing food insecurity in rural areas by reducing the number of gaps in service and trying innovative approaches to distributing food so that all neighbors have access to nutritious food.

Meet Joe and Jim,
Veterans Who Serve Again

Joe, a volunteer at Families Matter Food Pantry, one of the Food Bank’s partners in Monaca, Beaver County, says “There’s a lot of people out there that need help, and I never realized it until I started volunteering and seeing this more and more. That’s why we come [to volunteer].”

He’s joined by one of his friends, Jim, on a sweltering August day. Jim shares: “I tell you a story. It was the coldest Tuesday this year, and we were out here, it was like 10 degrees or less. And there was a family that walked here with bags to pick up their food, and they were going to walk from here about a mile up to Eat’n Park and catch a bus to go home. When I see people that need food like that are willing to do that, it’s a no-brainer for me. You get more out of it than the people you’re trying to help.”

Jim, a proud veteran, started volunteering on Mondays at Families Matter to help distribute food to vets. He enjoyed it so much that he started volunteering on Thursdays with his wife also. He continues, “And then the smiles on people’s faces… I don’t know, it just makes the day. It’s just a joy to do it, you know what I mean? [When] the people are happy about getting the food, it makes us happy. It just makes it worthwhile. Makes your heart pump, doesn’t it?”

Joe and Jim represent the volunteer heartbeat that makes organizations like food banks and food pantries work.

Our work in Beaver County

In Beaver County, we work with 79 partners including food pantries, hot meal programs and child nutrition partners to distribute food to neighbors who are food insecure. Last year, we awarded more than $28,000 in impact grants to our partners in the county to support essential operating needs such as equipment, food and staff to keep their programs running.

In Aliquippa, we host a monthly drive-up distribution where each car gets a family size portion of approximately 50 pounds of food, focusing on produce and frozen protein. This style of distribution allows neighbors to have access to food assistance without standing for long periods of time. Last year through this distribution we distributed more than 180,000 pounds of food to neighbors in Beaver County.

In Beaver Falls, we host a monthly walk-in distribution, which provides people with the opportunity to choose the food they need – including fresh produce – rather than relying on pre-packed boxes. Neighbors can walk through the distribution and select the items they want. Annually, we distribute 130,700 pounds of food through this distribution.

One of the innovative ways we are exploring getting food to neighbors is through temperature-controlled lockers. Often, we hear neighbors are unable to make it to their local food pantries during their operating hours. In response to this challenge, we have piloted temperature-controlled lockers at three locations.  One is in Beaver County at our partner Center for Hope. On average, Center for Hope serves 1,000 families per month through the lockers. Neighbors are able to preorder the food they want and are given an access code to stop by the lockers and pick up the food at a time that works for their schedule.

How You Can Help

There are many ways to get involved with our work in Beaver County. You can get involved with the Food Bank in three simple ways:

1. Advocating for anti-hunger policies with your local and state officials that help neighbors facing food insecurity. Start by signing up for our Advocacy Newsletter to receive timely alerts on current actions and ways to alleviate food insecurity.

2. Volunteering at a Beaver County distribution.

3. Donating to support programs and operations that make our mission possible in Beaver County. Every $1 donated to the Food Bank can help provide up to 3 meals to neighbors in need. Unlike going to the grocery store, we work directly with manufacturers, retailers, local farmers and government agencies to source foods in mass quantities (some of which would have otherwise gone to waste) for distribution.  

Are you in need or want to give back to an organization in Beaver county? Visit our Food Finder Tool and type in “Beaver county” when prompted to enter an address or ZIP Code.