Causes: Food, Food Banks & Pantries

Mission: The greater philadelphia coalition against hunger strives to build a community where all people have the food they need to lead healthy lives. We connect people with food assistance programs and nutrition education; provide resources to a network of food pantries; and educate the public and policymakers about responsible solutions that prevent people from going hungry.

Programs: The snap campaign helps struggling families and individuals to put food on the table. Through its snap hotline and outreach services, the coaliton provides screening, application assistance and case management to over 6,000 people annually. In pennsylvania, the coalition connects more to snap than any other organzation, except the state's department of public welfare.

the increasing demand for emergency food has resulted in more than half of the region's food pantries running short. The coalition works to increase the capacity of more than 120 local pantries and soup kitchens by providing equipment, healthy food, and other supports to ensure they can meet the growing need for their services. We also provide training and educational workshops for pantry coordinators, and fund raising opportunties like the walk+run against hunger (largest public hunger event in the state, raising $250,000 for anti-hunger organzations. )

through data and information gathered through its work with food pantries and direct service to snap clients, the coalition advocates for responsible policies that meet the real need in the community. The coalition is one of pennsylvania's leading advocates on snap policy, working closely with the state's department of pubic wefare to support improved administration of the program. At the federal level the coalition partners with other advocacy organizations to improvde nutrition and anti-hunger policies through the farm bill and child nutrition reauthorization act.

nutrition education: in order to increase the health and well-being of the communities it serves, the coalition provides nutrition education to its clients. Snap clients receive nutrition information that will help make their snap dollars stretch to purchase healthy foods. The coalition also provides workshops for food pantry coordinators and their clients so that they make healthy choices on tight budgets. Green light pantry - in 2013, the coalition against hunger launced two "green light pantries," a new kind of food pantry focused on promoting healthy eating while helping families put food on the table. Unlike most other food pantries, these green light pantries provide only highly nutritious food to their clients. Pantry members also take part in monthly nutrition workshops and receive other services.