ALLENTOWN, Pa. — Summer is normally the slow season for the Allentown Area Ecumenical Food Bank. This year, the organization says new clients are up 55% as more families struggle with rising costs and reduced food assistance.

At the same time, the amount of food available to help them is shrinking.

For 44-year-old single father Phil Odam, accepting that help has not been easy.

“It’s embarrassing, but it’s something that I got to do for, you know, survival,” Odam said while volunteers filled bags with food for him and his 1-year-old daughter, Catalina.

Odam said difficult circumstances have forced him to put pride aside.

“The struggle gets really real,” he said. “You hit hard times, so you gotta sacrifice, you know. Put your pride to the side.”

For Odam, receiving food at the Allentown Area Ecumenical Food Bank means he can stretch the limited money he has for other expenses.

“I gotta make sure she’s good for the week, so I don’t have to spend the money that I do have,” he said of his daughter.

Executive Director Anne Eagan says Odam is among a growing number of people seeking help. She said higher food and gas prices, along with reductions in SNAP benefits, are putting additional pressure on households that were already struggling.

“They were just squeaking by, and now they are not able to make ends meet,” Eagan said.

The increase in demand comes as food banks are also facing supply problems.

At Second Harvest Food Bank, which supplies about 60% of the food distributed by Allentown Ecumenical, warehouse shelves were noticeably bare.

When asked whether the warehouse should look that empty, Second Harvest’s Sarah Wassel answered simply:

“No, it should not.”

Wassel said federal cuts and delays in new state contracts have contributed to the shortage. Private donations from area warehouses have helped, but she said there is still not enough food to fully supply the roughly 200 food banks, soup kitchens and shelters that depend on Second Harvest.

Asked when she expects the shelves to be replenished, Wassel said there is no clear timeline.

“I don’t have a day or time,” she said. “I wish that I could have a magic wand and make it fixed, but this is what we have.”

For Odam and Catalina, this week’s food is secured. What happens next week remains uncertain.

Odam said his daughter is what keeps him focused on finding a way forward.

“She don’t judge me,” he said. “She looks at me like I’m her savior, and I got to keep on being her savior and take care of her.”

The Allentown Area Ecumenical Food Bank is open five days a week. Second Harvest says private donations continue to play an important role in helping fill gaps in the regional food supply.