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The Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank

Leading the regional fight against hunger since 1980

W

hen the and peo let’s feed

chips are down ople are hungry, d them.

D. JERMAIN HUSSER CEO The Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank

Anyone can experience hunger.

There are 325,520 people living with food insecurity in our region, but they’re not all the same faces.

The people who need food assistance change from month to month, depending on rates of unemployment, poverty, and personal and medical reasons. They vary widely in age, race, and levels of education.

The number of people who need our help, however, remains the same: 13.4% of the population*, or 1 out of 7.

13.4%

13.4% of Pittsburghers don’t know where their next meal is coming from.

That’s about 1 in 7 people.

Data available from Feeding America’s Map the Meal Gap Project 2013.

We distribute over 25 million pounds of food every year.

That is the weight of 10 steel bridges.

While that is an impressive statistic, this means that food insecurity in our region is more prevalent than ever. In the past few years of the economic downturn, we have been serving thousands of new families every month.

It is time for us all to realize that the only way to end hunger is to decide, as a community, that food insecurity of any kind is unacceptable. In this abundant land, no matter who you are, or where you live, or how successful you become you deserve to have enough to eat.

We do more than give away bags of groceries.

We supply the region’s food pantries, soup kitchens, and churches with the food they need to distribute to the thousands of people in need of food assistance.

We shipped hundreds of refrigerators, freezers, computers, shelving and other equipment for our partner organizations and community agencies in our network.

Our community partners include local farmers and community garden organizations so we can glean fresh produce to supplement our canned goods.

Our programs for food assistance will continue to grow as we continue to adapt to the ups and down in our economy.

We practice what we preach.

In 2005 the Food Bank opened its prep kitchen thanks to a bequest from former Food Bank Board President John McClay. The kitchen allows the nutrition staff to try out recipes using different donated products, and carry out cooking demonstrations at pantries and farm stands.

Our nutritionists have a system.

The Choosing Healthy Options Program (CHOP), a nutritional ranking system, received the Agency Research Hunger’s Hope Award in 2006, and has been embraced by dozens of food banks across the network. It ranks food based on nutrient content by assigning points for healthy nutrients and deducting points for unhealthy nutrients.

We make sure the food we provide is the healthiest option.

Which is why here at the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank, almost a third of the food we give away is fresh produce.

From birth, the intake of vital nutrients is essential to the growth and development of a healthy individual.

Good nutrition, particularly in the first three years of life, is important in establishing and maintaining a good foundation that has implications on a child’s future physical and mental health, academic achievement, and economic productivity.

Unfortunately, food insecurity is an obstacle that threatens that critical foundation. When one out of five children do not always know where they will find their next meal, food assistance is more important than ever.

Thanks to our strong Every dollar is worth $5.

community support, we are able to buy food in bulk to distribute to people in need.

Government assistance programs are only the first line of defense against hunger. We at the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank enjoy rich collaborative relationships with corporations and foundations, government, donors, volunteers, agencies and the people we serve. Because of this strong community support, we have tremendous buying power and are able to purchase the bulk of the food we distribute daily.

Even after three decades, we still strive to respond to our community’s needs by improving and expanding services, developing new programs, advocating for changes in public policy, maintaining best practices, and alleviating hunger wherever and however we can.

1 North Linden Street Duquesne, PA 15110 (412) 460-3663 For more ways to give: http://www.pittsburghfoodbank.org/donate/