Alliance for Nonprofit Resources combats senior citizen food insecurity
Out of the 3,826 Butler County seniors who qualify to receive a monthly nutritious food package, only 300 of them take advantage of the opportunity.
“There are pockets in our community that people don't realize of folks (who) are struggling,” said Janine Kennedy, director of programs for the Alliance for Nonprofit Resources.
Food insecurity is defined by the U.S. Department of Agriculture as a lack of consistent access to enough food for an active, healthy life.
When Friedman's Freshmarkets, a grocery chain, closed in 2018, it created a food desert for parts of Butler and Saxonburg. Recently, Viola's Market closed in Evans City.
“There are folks who don't have vehicles for transportation, who don't have the money to put gas in their car to get to the food bank. They may be 10 miles out from a grocery store, which doesn't sound like a long drive, but if I couldn't get here, there's no way to get food,” Kennedy said. “It's an incredibly needed program because hunger insecurity is out there and it's real.”
A year after the Alliance for Nonprofit Resources, which provides administrative services to agencies of all sizes, took over the Commodity Supplemental Food Program from Butler County, it received its first review Monday from Hunger-Free Pennsylvania, the largest provider of meals to older Pennsylvanians.
This is an article excerpt — pick up Wednesday's Butler Eagle to find out how the review went and how the program works.
