The past year has been difficult for many families as the cost of living crisis continues with new factors adding to families\u2019 burdens.<\/p>\n
Rising prices on food, housing, transportation and utilities have made family life unaffordable for many across the region.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think what\u2019s most important is for people to understand that this has been increasing, even prior to SNAP benefits being stopped on November 1,\u201d said Cindy Wedholm, executive director of the Ambler-based Mattie N. Dixon Community Cupboard in Montgomery County.<\/p>\n
The 43-day-long federal government shutdown threatened assistance for many who rely on Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program dollars. While the government has since reopened, ripple effects are being felt in communities everywhere.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a perfect storm in many ways,\u201d said Sheldon Good, Manna on Main Street\u2019s director of development and strategic direction.<\/p>\n
Food insecurity remains a top issue in Montgomery County as some 63,000 families rely on federal food assistance funds, he noted.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis isn\u2019t theoretical,\u201d Good said. \u201cThese are real, impossible choices the people we serve who rely on SNAP are being forced to make every day.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Tonya Cruz of Hamburg, a volunteer from FirstEnergy\/Met-Ed, loads a prepared meal into a shrink-wrapping machine at the Helping Harvest Community Kitchen in the GoggleWorks Center for the Arts, 223 Washington St. (BILL UHRICH\/READING EAGLE)\n<\/p>\n
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From left, Angela Berkis of Sinking Spring, Stephanie Gentile from Mohnton and Pollyanne Bonning of Hamburg, all volunteers from FirstEnergy\/Met-Ed, prepare Thanksgiving meals at the Helping Harvest Community Kitchen in the GoggleWorks Center for the Arts, 223 Washington St. (BILL UHRICH\/READING EAGLE)\n<\/p>\n
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Katelynn Caporaletti of Birdsboro, left, and Steve Isemar of Lititz, both volunteers from FirstEnergy\/ Met-Ed, prepare Thanksgiving meals at the Helping Harvest Community Kitchen in the GoggleWorks Center for the Arts, 223 Washington St. (BILL UHRICH\/READING EAGLE)\n<\/p>\n
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Misty Heller of Hamburg, left, and Chris Ciccone of Douglassville, volunteers from FirstEnergy\/Met-Ed, pack prepared Thanksgiving meals at the Helping Harvest Community Kitchen in the GoggleWorks Center for the Arts, 223 Washington St. (BILL UHRICH\/READING EAGLE)\n<\/p>\n
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Tonya Cruz of Hamburg, a volunteer from FirstEnergy\/Met-Ed, loads a prepared meal into a shrink-wrapping machine at the Helping Harvest Community Kitchen in the GoggleWorks Center for the Arts, 223 Washington St. (BILL UHRICH\/READING EAGLE)\n<\/p>\n
Expand<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cThey rob Peter to pay Paul so to speak,\u201d Wedholm said, referring to family choices. \u201cSo they ignore certain bills because they know that they can\u2019t afford it, and they\u2019re going to focus on one. Or, if they have the luxury of having transportation, is it reliable?<\/p>\n \u201cOr do they need new tires and they can\u2019t afford that, or do they get tires and not eat for a day or two? I think it\u2019s the families that we see and the stories that I hear from other pantries is that the depth of the stress that families are under when they can\u2019t afford food is unfathomable.\u201d<\/p>\n Rising need hits food pantries<\/p>\n Mattie Dixon\u2019s food procurement figures were 35% to 40% higher than October 2023. The Ambler-based pantry added a third food distribution day during the government shutdown to provide further accessibility to families and furloughed federal workers. Volunteers saw 28 new families in just two hours.<\/p>\n \u201cIt just goes to show you the need is out there right now, and people are panicked,\u201d Wedholm said.<\/p>\n In the North Penn area, Manna on Main Street distributed 15,596 meals and recorded 1,673 grocery orders last month, according to Good, who noted the uptick from 14,584 meals in October 2024 and 12,501 meals in October 2023.<\/p>\n \u201cThis past week, we served about 10 percent more meals and groceries than normal, more than nearly any week on record,\u201d Good said in early November.<\/p>\n People line up to receive food at the St. Joseph Parish Center food pantry, 1018 N. Eighth St., Reading. Pantries in the region are seeing an increased demand for services. (BILL UHRICH -READING EAGLE)\n<\/p>\n Canned goods line the shelves of the Upper Merion Area Community Cupboard on Sept. 5, 2025 in King of Prussia. (Rachel Ravina \u2013 MediaNews Group)\n<\/p>\n Food items are on display on Sept. 5, 2025 at the Upper Merion Area Community Cupboard in King of Prussia. (Rachel Ravina \u2013 MediaNews Group)\n<\/p>\n With SNAP benefits on the verge of drying up, Delaware County is hosting a drive-up food collection on Saturday, Nov. 8 from 9 a.m. to noon at the former Don Guanella School in Marple Township, 1797 Sproul Road, Springfield, to support residents and pantries in need. Above, a drive-up donation site at St. Mark\u2019s United Methodist Church in Broomall during the pandemic. (DAILY TIMES)\n<\/p>\n Show Caption<\/p>\n 1 of 4<\/p>\n People line up to receive food at the St. Joseph Parish Center food pantry, 1018 N. Eighth St., Reading. Pantries in the region are seeing an increased demand for services. (BILL UHRICH -READING EAGLE)\n<\/p>\n Expand<\/a><\/p>\n The increased need in the community is something that\u2019s crystal clear to Jay Worrall, president of Helping Harvest, a food bank that serves Berks and Schuylkill counties.<\/p>\n \u201cWe just ran the numbers, and October was our second largest monthly distribution ever,\u201d Worrall said, noting the food bank\u2019s numbers have returned to COVID-19 pandemic levels.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re experiencing very high volumes right now,\u201d Worrall said. \u201cPeople who are food insecure are feeling even more so. And we have a lot more people coming to pantries and mobile markets, so much so that we\u2019re struggling to get enough food there to serve them.\u201d<\/p>\n At a recent mobile market stop in Wernersville, Berks County, food started to run out within the first few hours, forcing Helping Harvest to send out a second truck.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s been a challenging time,\u201d Worrall said. \u201cPeople need more help from us than they have in the past.\u201d<\/p>\n Food insecurity keeps growing<\/p>\n Around 85,000 people reportedly experienced food insecurity in Montgomery County in 2023, according to Feeding America. Food pantries say that number has grown.<\/p>\n The Keystone Opportunity Center, based in Souderton, noted a 23% increase in families served in the third quarter of 2025 as compared to last year, according to Kyle Foster, food pantry manager at the center.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s our neighbors, the person in line behind you at the grocery store. It\u2019s anybody,\u201d Foster said. \u201cAnd how prevalent it is in Montgomery County is not well-known. One in nine people in Montgomery County will experience food insecurity. So it\u2019s a lot.\u201d<\/p>\n Around 250 to 275 families received food in a given month, but now Foster said the organization\u2019s pushing about 350 families a month.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are seeing an extreme intake in new families, single moms, veterans, people who haven\u2019t been to the pantry in years,\u201d Foster said. \u201cIt\u2019s definitely a difficult situation, but thankfully our fridges and freezers will remain stocked thanks to the community.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2018People haven\u2019t forgotten about us\u2019<\/p>\n Community members stepped up in recent weeks as food pantries across the region were inundated with donations to help those in need. A number of grassroots drives were organized, including on Election Day when voters could drop off food donations on their way to the polls.<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cA lot of the community members have stepped up, a lot of businesses have stepped up, individuals, neighborhoods, kids, everybody, and the influx of donations has been just heartwarming,\u201d Wedholm said.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s inspiring and humbling to see the community rally for Manna, for our neighbors, and the people we serve, there\u2019s dozens of people and groups that are running food drives for us right now,\u201d Good said.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s amazing how they have stepped up,\u201d said Liam Murphy, executive director of the Patrician Society, as people visited the food pantry in Norristown with cars filled with donations.<\/p>\n He emphasized how \u201cwe\u2019ve been able to keep up with the demand.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cPeople haven\u2019t forgotten about us,\u201d said Grace and Cecil Bean\u2019s Soup Kitchen Managing Director Terri Stone in Norristown.<\/p>\n Stone said she\u2019s seen a recent increase in turnout during meal service days. As a fully donor-funded nonprofit, Stone said she is overwhelmed by the community\u2019s generosity.<\/p>\n \u201cPeople want to step in; when the government can\u2019t and the government won\u2019t, the community steps in, and fills the gap, which I think is beautiful,\u201d Stone said.<\/p>\n Montgomery County commissioners also designated $500,000 in emergency funding for food assistance<\/a> in late October. As the holiday season gets underway, Philadelphia\u2019s Share Food Program Chief Communications Officer Jess Bautista reflected on the impacts now that the impasse has ended. Bautista spoke while volunteering in Norristown at an early Thanksgiving meal service at Bean\u2019s soup kitchen.<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cThe need has been incredibly great, and it\u2019s only going up, and the government shutdown kind of exacerbated that entirely,\u201d Bautista said. \u201cSo while there\u2019s some relief that the shutdown is over, hunger is still on the rise.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAnybody that has never had that lived experience does not understand the depth of it and how it affects absolutely every piece of them,\u201d Wedholm said, stressing the ranging impacts from physical health to financial anxiety.<\/p>\n \u201cKids can\u2019t learn when they\u2019re hungry,\u201d Wedholm said. \u201cYour health is taken for granted if you can\u2019t afford to go to the doctor, or you know that you\u2019re not going to be able to afford the medicine, or that you are choosing food that is not nutritionally dense or good for you because it\u2019s cheaper.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThis will have long lasting impacts on people\u2019s health and well-being for years to come,\u201d Good said.<\/p>\n On the economic side of the issue, Wedholm observed how the cost of living is huge in this region. While rents have skyrocketed, Wedholm noted, the state and federal hourly minimum wage is still set at $7.25.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s not feasible for anyone to be able to afford to live if they have a full-time job with minimum wage,\u201d she said. \u201cSo it\u2019s this onion of issues that hunger is just one of those \u2026 that just needs to be fixed, unfortunately, but it\u2019s a pretty complex issue to address.\u201d<\/p>\n Impact of immigration enforcement<\/p>\n In addition to affordability, immigration has been another key issue impacting some low income communities. Federal agents conducting immigration enforcement have become an increased presence throughout the region, placing communities on edge.<\/p>\n In the face of that fear, food pantry leaders have emphasized the importance of continued accessibility for those in need.<\/p>\n \u201cI definitely feel that it has lessened their activity with our food pantry. They\u2019re scared to come out,\u201d Wedholm said of those in immigrant communities.<\/p>\n \u201cPeople are afraid,\u201d Murphy said. \u201cThey\u2019re nervous to come out because, I mean, you never know, right? You never know where they\u2019re going to be. Every now and then you\u2019ll hear a rumor that they were in another place.\u201d<\/p>\n But people in the nonprofit sectors underscored the need to be a trusted resource for everyone.<\/p>\n \u201cWe were trying to be a bright spot in people\u2019s lives. If they get some food out of it too, we want people to feel comfortable here,\u201d said Joe Maccolini, an executive assistant and former executive director of the Patrician Society.<\/p>\n Stone agreed.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a place that can be relied upon when there\u2019s need,\u201d Stone said. \u201cHere\u2019s my motto: \u2018If we have it, it\u2019s yours.\u2019 We have a hot meal, you can have that, toiletries \u2026 whatever we have is for you.\u201d<\/p>\n Nonprofit organizations expressed their gratitude for community contributions and encouraged those able to continue donating to their local food pantries.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is an all-hands-on-deck moment. Whatever matters most to you in terms of taking action and supporting your local organizations, the time is now,\u201d Good said.<\/p>\n Staff writers David Mekeel of Reading Eagle and John Worthington of The Reporter contributed to this report.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The past year has been difficult for many families as the cost of living crisis continues with new…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":44324,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[349,182,200,139,25408,28,128,130,129,199],"class_list":{"0":"post-44476","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-reading","8":"tag-berks-county","9":"tag-local-news","10":"tag-montgomery-county","11":"tag-news","12":"tag-operation-holiday","13":"tag-pennsylvania","14":"tag-reading-city","15":"tag-reading-city-headlines","16":"tag-reading-city-news","17":"tag-top-stories-mlt"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44476","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=44476"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44476\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/44324"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44476"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44476"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44476"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n![\"Laura](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/LAN-L-fooddonationselex-1107-04.jpg\")
Laura Smith, a Norristown resident and secretary of the George Washington Carver Community Center board secretary, poses for a photo with food items collected on Election Day, Nov. 4, 2025, outside the Eisenhower Science and Technology Leadership Academy in Norristown. (Rachel Ravina \u2013 MediaNews Group)<\/p>\n