Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank worried about future of federal funding
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro sued the federal government over its funding freeze on grants and loans. While federal courts reversed the freeze for now, the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank said it's worried about the uncertainty in federal funding.
According to the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services, 1.7 million people in the state face food insecurity every day. They rely on food banks to fill that necessity in their lives.
The Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank has provided food for those in need for over 40 years and counting. That's 48 million meals every year, but they count on the U.S. Department of Agriculture, or USDA.
"Food we receive from the federal government through USDA represents almost 20 percent of all the food we distribute throughout the year," said Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank CEO Lisa Scales.
According to Scales, that's about 8 million pounds of food that their food bank distributes.
"We're very concerned if those food items are held up in any way," Scales said.
She said federal funding also helps the local economy.
"There's federal funding for us to purchase from local growers and farmers throughout the state of Pennsylvania and currently we're spending around $130,000 a month to purchase those items," she said.
The food bank is scaling back now to get through the month.
"We have funding through March, through that program, but after that, we're not sure whether we'll continue to receive funding. Very concerned about that," she said.
They get by on donated food items, and Scales said they will buy items as well. But if their federal funding is officially cut, then she said the amount of food they provide for the community won't be able to remain the same. Scales said if that happens, "we really will rely on the community to come together to help support our purchasing efforts."
The Pittsburgh food bank is not alone.
"We're all experiencing the same increased level of concern right now," said Scales.
People who get free food through the government's Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and the Women, Infants and Children program get food directly. Right now, the White House said payments going directly to individuals would not be affected by a spending pause. However, the funding could be cut in future budgetary changes.
