Since 1981, Central Pennsylvania Food Bank (CPFB) has served central Pennsylvania families living with hunger. Our mission is “fighting hunger, improving lives, strengthening communities.” Food insecurity is much more than feeling hungry and it is about more than food. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) defines food security as “access by all people at all times to enough food for an active, healthy life.” Understanding that hunger in American households is driven primarily by insufficient financial resources, lack of access to nutritious food affects peoples’ health, and children’s development and educational success.
With our network of partners and community supporters, we ensure that everyone across our 27-county territory – nearly 530,000 individuals last fiscal year – has access to enough nutritious food. To serve people in the ZIP codes where they live, we partner with almost 1,100 organizations, like smaller food banks, pantries, shelters, soup kitchens, child and senior care centers, military service organizations, mobile distribution host sites, and more. This network represents a true partnership; CPFB’s work does not duplicate the services of local agencies. Instead, we support and amplify their work, as CPFB sources bulk quantities of higher-quality food at lower costs than local organizations could on their own. Without our collaborative efforts, the families we serve would not receive the same quality, consistency, or proximity of service, elevating the many physical, mental, and emotional health risks of hunger.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, our greatest challenge has been ensuring we have enough food for the households seeking our assistance. Food donors are donating less food to CPFB as donors seek to cut costs and limit waste. Before the pandemic, almost 85% of our food was donated. Today, that portion has fallen to below 75%, a costly dynamic as CPFB will not reduce our service to neighbors. Therefore, to continue meeting our community’s needs, we must significantly increase the amount of food we purchase. CPFB is purchasing more food than we were before the pandemic, and at higher costs due to inflation. Next year, we have budgeted to spend almost $12 million on purchased food, a total we could not have imagined prior to the pandemic. Food and financial donations from you are critical to ensuring we can source enough food for our neighbors.
