Latest news with #Gulish
Yahoo
14-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
As food insecurity grows and federal cuts loom, Pittsburgh food bank ramps up efforts to help
A new report from Feeding America shows 1 in 5 children in Southwestern Pennsylvania do not have enough to eat. Channel 11 checked in with the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank to find out what's being done there and in various communities to help those in need. An unsettling upward trend of food insecurity is being reported in the 11 counties served by the Food Bank. The most recent data from Map The Meal Gap shows an increase in need across all demographics, including a significant spike in rates among children. 'You look at grocery prices, they're still high, cost of living is still high across the board, so it's all of those factors that are going into causing individuals to make very difficult choices,' said Brian Gulish, VP of marketing & communications for the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank. Despite cuts in federal funding, the Food Bank is ramping up efforts to close the meal gap, a renewed effort to supplement the needs of families by adding 21 child nutrition partners in its service area. '…Working with school district partners, summer youth café programs, our partners in the community…we are putting the resources and the boots on the ground to make sure we can get the food in the communities,' Gulish said. The best ways you can help: donate, volunteer, and advocate for change, as the future remains uncertain for several federal programs. The Food Bank says that includes a loss of $1.5 million through the cancellation of the Local Food Purchasing Agreement (LFPA) program, as well as potential changes or cuts to SNAP benefits 'We are, right now, preparing for that proverbial double-edged sword: if our funding goes down, if the need goes up, we're going to see an increase in people coming to the food bank, and we are going to make sure we are here to serve our mission to the fullest,' Gulish said. RESOURCES: Download the FREE WPXI News app for breaking news alerts. Follow Channel 11 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch WPXI NOW
CBS News
14-05-2025
- General
- CBS News
Food insecurity continues to rise in Pittsburgh region, new report shows
A new report shows that regional food insecurity continues to rise in the Pittsburgh region. It comes from Feeding America's Map the Meal Gap study, something it's been doing for 15 years now. This is a national report, but there are staggering stats at a local level, too. At the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank, the carts keep moving, and the trunks keep filling. "My income needs to be supplemented. This is one way to do it: food banks," John Strothers of Wilkinsburg said. It seems many people keep relying on places like this, according to Brian Gulish of the food bank. "Going back to 2019, since before the pandemic, we were distributing about 31 million pounds of food," Gulish said. "We're over 45 million pounds of food right now this year." New data from Feeding America's Map the Meal Gap shows that 13% of people in our region are food insecure. Those figures come from 2023, though. "It's likely higher than that 13%," Gulish said. Among children in our area, that figure is over 18%. With Hispanics, it's 25%, and Black people are at 33%. "There are so many barriers and stigmas associated with food insecurity," Gulish said. Gulish says solving this involves a holistic approach. "If we can help those individuals in those other areas, hopefully, that will help alleviate that food insecurity as well," he said. Those areas may involve helping people find employment, education, or housing. "We need to make sure that everyone and every community has the resources they need to thrive," she said. That includes places like Lawrence County, where the food insecurity rate is higher than the regional average at 14.1%, or even Indiana County, which stands at 14.5%. "It is those rural populations where the most food insecure populations are overall, or with children," Gulish said. It's part of why the volunteer work continues here. The people haven't lost sight of the end goal. "We have work to do, but again, every day we walk through these doors, and we look at ways that we can put food on people's tables," Gulish said.
