Rep. John Myers presents Bill Clark, with the resolution

 PHILADELPHIA  -- Sept. 10, 2008 -- In a ceremony today, held at the Faith Chapel Church in Philadelphia, the 201st District Representative John Myers introduced a resolution to recognize September as Hunger Action Month in Pennsylvania along with a second resolution to acknowledge the work that Philabundance has done in the community.  Rep. Myers called on fellow legislators in attendance and the community to come together to fight hunger in Philadelphia County and the Delaware Valley.

Joining Rep. Myers for Hunger Action Month and to raise awareness of how many of our neighbors go hungry every day were 203rd District Representative Dwight Evans, State Senator Leanna Washington and Bill Ryan, from Albert Einstein Healthcare Network. Philabundance’s president and executive director Bill Clark welcomed the legislators and talked about National Hunger Action Month including the Food Stamp Budget Challenge, which invites the public to live on a food stamp budget of $21 per person for one week. Pennsylvania food stamp households receive, on average, $1.03 per person per meal, or $21.63 per week in food stamp benefits.

Following the ceremony, Faith Chapel Church, one of Philabundance’s network agencies in Rep. Myers’ district, distributed food to area residents in need as they do every week.

Below are poverty and food stamp facts that were shared at the event:

• 1,135,146 Pennsylvanians or 9% use food stamps to buy food every month, but in Philadelphia 22.7% of our citizens are receiving food stamp benefits (USDA FY2007)

• About 71 percent of Pennsylvania food stamp benefits go to households with children, many of them in working families (USDA FY2006)

• In 2000, 777,112 Pennsylvanians received food stamps each month. That number rose steadily to 1,135,146 in 2007, an increase of 46% (USDA)

• Nationally, only 65 percent of those eligible for food stamps receive them. In Pennsylvania, the

              participation rate is estimated to be 68 percent. (USDA October 2006)

US Census Numbers from 2000

• In the 201st district about  44% of the people are poor or working poor  and 14.4% are receiving food stamps

• In the 203rd district about  35% of the people are poor or working poor and 11.5% are receiving food stamps

• In the 4th senate district about  25% of the people are poor or working poor  and 8% are receiving food stamps 

According to the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2006 American Community Survey, 25.1 percent of Philadelphians struggled below the poverty line. This number doesn’t account for all the people receiving food stamps because the present system to calculate poverty doesn’t account for the de facto working poor who receive food stamps and live just above the Federal Poverty Line. The struggle to put food on the table is going to get harder for many families, as food prices are expected to increase an additional six percent by the end of the year, from four percent in 2007.

Today’s ceremony was an opportunity to bring the community and legislators together to raise awareness of hunger, which more than 900,000 residents in the Delaware Valley face every day. Myers together with the other legislators kicked off canned good food drives.  Food Drive Details

Hunger Action Month is organized on a national level by Feeding America (www.feedingamerica.org), and includes events across the United States that directly benefit the network’s hunger-relief efforts.

Individuals can do their part to help by participating in Hunger Action Month events and programs, volunteering, making a financial donation, or organizing a food drive. For more call 215-339-0900.

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Philabundance is the region’s largest hunger relief organization. Working with more than 600 neighborhood organizations in both Southeastern Pennsylvania and South Jersey, Philabundance fights hunger and malnutrition principally by collecting and distributing food to people in need. For more information about Philabundance, call 215-339-0900 or visit www.philabundance.org.