Opinion: No Family Should Go Hungry—Fund the Food Banks

 

In the heart of West Philadelphia, every week, hundreds of families line up at our district office at 4027 Market Street for a simple, yet powerful act: receiving free groceries. What started as a response to crisis has become a lifeline for so many. The faces we see every week are diverse — working parents, seniors, students, immigrants, and children — all unified by one heartbreaking reality: food insecurity.The fight against hunger is not abstract here. It is daily. It is personal.

 

Across Pennsylvania, nearly 1 in 8 people — including 1 in 6 children — are food insecure. That means they do not have reliable access to enough affordable, nutritious food. Nationally, over 13 million children are facing hunger, and studies show that children who are food insecure are more likely to struggle in school, suffer from anxiety and behavioral issues, and experience long-term health problems. Hunger stifles learning, stunts growth, and stalls opportunity. Trust me, I know… as a child, I went to school many days with a lack of energy, due to hunger.

 

This isn’t just a moral issue — it’s an economic one. When children cannot concentrate in school, when families must choose between rent and groceries, when working adults skip meals so their kids can eat, our entire society pays the price. Hunger costs us in lost productivity, increased healthcare expenses, and unrealized potential.

 

In my district, our weekly food giveaways have become a cornerstone of support. Through strong partnerships and the use of my own resources, we’ve been able to sustain this vital program. But I see too many organizations, churches, and community groups forced to shut their doors or scale back their food assistance programs because they simply don’t have the funding.

 

And we must be honest: this didn’t happen in a vacuum.

 

The Trump administration made devastating cuts to food assistance programs — including attempts to slash SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program), eliminate free school meals for thousands of children, and implement stricter work requirements that would have disqualified millions from receiving help. These policy decisions hurt real people. They hit working-class communities, communities of color, and our most vulnerable neighbors the hardest. And we are still feeling the ripple effects today.

 

Food insecurity does not discriminate — and neither should our response. The people who attend our food giveaways are a snapshot of America: Black, white, Asian, Latino, young and old, newly unemployed and longtime residents struggling to make ends meet. Hunger doesn’t care about your background. And neither do we.

 

I remain committed to doing everything in my power to meet the needs of families in West Philadelphia, but we cannot do it alone. Community programs need support. Nonprofits need resources. Our food banks need federal backing.

 

That’s why I’m calling on the federal administration to prioritize funding for food programs in this year’s budget.We need robust, sustained investment in food banks, school meal programs, and local initiatives that are already making a difference.

The cost of inaction is too great. If we are serious about building a stronger, healthier, more equitable America — it starts with ensuring that every person has access to food. Not just sometimes. Every single day.