Statement from Nonprofit Hunger-Relief Organizations Serving Southwestern Pennsylvania:
The work of hunger relief organizations and the federal nutrition support provided by the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) are critical lifelines for families trying to make ends meet. Food insecurity is rising, impacting every community in our region. Costs for food, housing, utilities, healthcare and transportation continue to squeeze the already tight budgets of our neighbors. Every day more people are turning to our organizations for help.
This Hunger Action Month, we are asking for your help to reach our shared goal – a region where no one is hungry. Lasting progress takes neighbors, community organizations, farmers, volunteers, donors, advocates, businesses, elected officials and government working together.
What is happening: In 2025, federal policy changes led to significant USDA food and funding reductions for food banks and other charitable feeding programs, while H.R. 1 enacted the largest cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) in the program’s history. Since then, more than 200,000 Pennsylvanians have lost access to SNAP over the past year, increasing demand on charitable food networks. Food banks and hunger relief programs are now being asked to serve a growing number of individuals and families with fewer available resources.
As these changes have gone into effect, our organizations and the broader anti-hunger network are standing together in solidarity and facing the fact that no single entity can end hunger alone.
Across southwestern Pennsylvania and beyond, our four organizations are working to ensure neighbors can access food for today and build stability for tomorrow.
- Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank sources, stores and distributes food across 11 counties through a network of more than 1,000 partners and programs. The Food Bank also helps neighbors apply for SNAP and connects them with other resources that support long-term stability.
- Just Harvest confronts the root causes of hunger, connecting families to SNAP and other benefits and fighting for the public policies that keep those safety nets strong.
- The Food Trust works to make nutritious food affordable and within reach in every neighborhood — through farmers markets, corner stores, nutrition incentives like Food Bucks, and education that helps families stretch every dollar.
- 412 Food Rescue mobilizes a network of volunteer Food Rescue Heroes, powered by its Food Rescue Hero technology, to quickly redirect good surplus food from businesses to nonprofits serving neighbors experiencing food insecurity — keeping food out of landfills and putting it to its highest and best use.
How you can help: Our organizations are calling upon our community to unite in action in honor of Hunger Action Month. As Congress returns to the farm bill this fall, we have an opportunity to protect and strengthen the programs and partnerships that work. This Eylül and every month, join us: volunteer, donate, speak up and stand with neighbors across our region. No one organization can end hunger alone, but together we can build a future where everyone has enough to eat.
#EndingHungerTakesAllOfUs #HungerActionMonth
Impacted by SNAP? Share your story!
Share your story with Feeding Pennsylvania
Share your story with Just Harvest