by Sue Ann Rybak

Before COVID-19 caused massive unemployment and school closures, more than 700,000 people in Philadelphia faced hunger. Now that need has skyrocketed.

Executive Director of Philabundance Glenn Bergman, said Philabundance, the largest hunger relief organization in the Delaware Valley, is in dire need of volunteers, food and monetary donations due to the coronavirus pandemic.

“Just based on my calls every day with food banks in Pennsylvania, the amount of work people are trying to do right now for the situation is much bigger than the food banks can handle,” he said. “We will do our best. People will just keep doing their best to keep the food coming in, the logistics right, without knowing exactly what the need is, because we don’t know how many people are going to need food until they get the federal aid worked out.

Bergman, of Mt. Airy, said he personally thinks the government should be sending out Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits to anyone who has applied for unemployment, and anyone who is not getting SNAP but is making below a certain income.

“That immediately gets SNAP benefits out, so people can go shopping for what they need,” he said.

He added that for a short period of time, the government should allow SNAP benefits to pay for a minimal delivery fee.

“So, people don’t have to go out to get a box of food at a shelter or pantry,” Bergman said. “They can stay home, and the food can be delivered to them. Right now, SNAP benefits don’t allow for any delivery fee to be added on. That would help a lot of merchants both large and small. Merchants that have small shops in both rural areas and urban areas. I think food banks will not be able to make up the difference unless there is a major push by the Democrats to increase the amount of people on SNAP benefits.

Last year, the organization distributed 26 million pounds of food, but donations from businesses are dwindling due to the corona virus pandemic.

Stefanie Arck-Baynes, a Mt. Airy resident and spokesperson for Philabundance, said roughly “10 million pounds of that food is from our generous grocery partners.” She said because people are panic buying, there is little food on the store shelves, which leaves little food available for the food banks.

She said besides grocery donations, food donations from businesses like Wawa and Starbucks have also “dried up.”

“We are on a collision course for food need that we have never seen before,” said Arck-Baynes. “Which is why we are grateful for volunteers – especially people who have their CDL driver’s license – and monetary donations so we can purchase food to make sure those in need can get the food they need.

 “There have been a lot of really generous individuals, companies and foundations who have stepped up to the plate and are helping provide funds at this time, and we are really grateful to them. We sometimes see kids who bring their piggybanks who say, ‘We know that there are other kids in need. We want to give this money to help them.’ Although, they don’t have much to spare they will do it because they know that there are other kids who need it more. It’s been overwhelming and scary, but a very humbling time for us. It comes with a lot of gratitude.”

Please note Philabundance is limiting volunteers to a small number of people (15-20) in order to practice social distancing. If you would like to volunteer go to http://philabundancevolunteers.org, or if you would like to make a donation, go to philabundance.org/donate/