Families Still Stream To Food Banks, And Budget Cuts Could Kill That Lifeline

AFL-CIO Community Services Director Will Fischer writes about the continuing need for community food banks and how this vital service for families in need faces the threat of budget cuts on the local, state and federal levels.

Over the past month, it seems that the news of a natural disaster striking a different area of the country has been a nightly occurrence. Whether a tornado or a flood, disaster announcements seem to be as much a part of the news as the wars or the economy. But what about those disasters that aren’t covered by the news and are happening around kitchen tables every night?

Last week on a trip to Pittsburgh, I volunteered with the newly formed Pennsylvania Wants to Work—an organization that advocates for the needs of unemployed and underemployed workers and brings them together around community volunteer activities and community service.

On this particular day, after a meeting with AFL-CIO Community Service Liaison, Joe Delale, I was told the group would be volunteering at the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank (GPCFB).

This would not be a normal day of volunteering.

Approximately 45 minutes before the doors were to open for the second shift, a slow, steady stream of folks began to arrive outside the doors. They streamed in like so many Pittsburghers had done for so many years at shift changes at now-gone plants and mills. They arrived both in groups and as individuals—carrying with them children, boxes and carts for their food. As opening time approached, the crowd grew and grew, just as the storm clouds overhead had grown and gotten darker.

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