{"id":23809,"date":"2025-11-04T00:14:07","date_gmt":"2025-11-04T00:14:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/23809\/"},"modified":"2025-11-04T00:14:07","modified_gmt":"2025-11-04T00:14:07","slug":"scranton-non-profit-sees-increase-in-families-in-need-of-food","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/23809\/","title":{"rendered":"Scranton non-profit sees increase in families in need of food"},"content":{"rendered":"

SCRANTON, LACKAWANNA COUNTY (WBRE\/WYOU) \u2014 Monday matches the longest the government has ever been shut down. Even though the Trump Administration is going to be partially paying for SNAP benefits this month, one non-profit organization has seen an increase in people walking into their doors.<\/p>\n

28\/22 News Reporter Connor Coar stopped by the Friends of the Poor and Catherine McAuley Center<\/a> and explained what the increase signals to the organization.<\/p>\n

The Friends of the Poor and Catherine McAuley Center in Scranton were very busy during the month of October.<\/p>\n

Over 900 new families walked through the non-profit\u2019s 14 food pantries in Lackawanna County.<\/p>\n

When 28\/22 News stopped by earlier Monday, the location on Pittston Avenue in Scranton had already served close to 200 families. That growing need is a concerning one for the organization.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis can happen to anyone, and it can affect anyone. It\u2019s our friends and our neighbors and the children that our kids sit next to in school that you just don\u2019t even think about how much they might be struggling at home,\u201d Friends of the Poor and Catherine McAuley Center President and CEO Meghan Loftus said.<\/p>\n

The organization is also getting ready for its 49th Annual Family To Family Drive-Through Food Basket Giveaway, the day before Thanksgiving.<\/p>\n

Woman killed in crash on Sans Souci Parkway identified <\/a><\/p>\n

Loftus tells 28\/22 News that they will have 4,000 meals boxed up, but they are on a first-come, first-served basis.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe point of the name \u2018Family to Family\u2019 is that, without preregistration, without any of those things. We aren\u2019t using public funding. We aren\u2019t using grant funding. It\u2019s all based on individual donations. So it\u2019s a $40 check from my family, gives a dinner to another family,\u201d Loftus explained.<\/p>\n

For Antonio Berardi, the need continues to increase. At the start of October, they served almost 5,000 families. As of today, that number has increased to nearly 6,500.<\/p>\n

\u201cTimes are tough. Groceries are expensive. Everyone needs relief. Everyone needs help, and that\u2019s what we are here for,\u201d Friends of the Poor and Catherine McAuley Center Senior Manager Antonio Berardi told 28\/22 News.<\/p>\n

With the Trump Administration announcing Monday that they will partially pay for SNAP benefits, that will only last a short amount of time.<\/p>\n

Berardi says that every donation helps, no matter the size.<\/p>\n

\u201cBuilding relationships with the community and the public. Trying to let them know that right now is the most important time that you can get involved. Whether it\u2019d a can of soup of a dollar, every little bit helps. No donation is too small. No donation is too big,\u201d Berardi continued.<\/p>\n

You can donate to the Friends of the Poor and Catherine McAuley Center online.<\/p>\n

Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.<\/p>\n

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to 28\/22 News. <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SCRANTON, LACKAWANNA COUNTY (WBRE\/WYOU) \u2014 Monday matches the longest the government has ever been shut down. Even though…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":23810,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[15799,15800,15247,1957,178,180,179,5767,723],"class_list":["post-23809","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-scranton","tag-antonio-berardi","tag-catherine-mcauley","tag-catherine-mcauley-center","tag-families","tag-scranton","tag-scranton-headlines","tag-scranton-news","tag-snap-benefits","tag-trump-administration"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23809","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23809"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23809\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23810"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23809"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23809"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23809"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}