The Honorable Rick Santorum
United States Senate
511 Dirksen Senate Office Building
Washington , D.C. 20510

Dear Senator Santorum:

Through this letter we join our voices in requesting your help for low-income seniors who depend on the Commodity Supplemental Food Program (CSFP) for a portion of their nutrition.

Through collaboration among the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the PA Department of Agriculture and the PA Association of Regional Food Banks (PARF), 15,575 low-income Pennsylvania seniors have been receiving a monthly food box worth close to $50. Because of a reduction in funding in the 2006 federal budget, this caseload is being reduced by 9 percent to 14,142 seniors. For 2007, the Bush Administration has recommended that the entire Program be eliminated, thus saving the U.S. Treasury around $107 million annually. If this recommendation were to be adopted by Congress, across America close to 470,000 low-income seniors and 50,000 low-income mothers, infants and children would lose this nutritional support.

We understand that the Bush Administration supports its recommendation by suggesting that seniors currently receiving CSFP nutritional support could receive that support from the Food Stamp Program.

For the reasons that follow, we are highly skeptical of that rationale.

• Based on a review of just over half the existing CSFP caseload, PARF concluded that only 18.5 percent are enrolled in the Food Stamp Program. This relatively narrow overlap between the two programs suggests important differences between the two programs
• Indeed, the CSFP has an income limit (130 percent of poverty) but no asset limit. The Food Stamp Program has both an income limit and an assets limit of $3,000. In practical terms, this means that unless nearly impoverished, low-income seniors are not eligible for the FSP but are eligible for the CSFP.
• Many seniors carry deep reservations about the Food Stamp Program due to its association with the county welfare office. They do not have those same reservations about the CSFP, which is administered by private community agencies. Thus even among low-income seniors who have few assets, there often is a strong preference for the commodity-based program.

The Bush Administration has proposed to lessen the negative impact of eliminating the CSFP by providing transitional food stamps of $20 a month for up to six months. Such an arrangement would not be a sufficient; obviously $20 in food stamp benefits for six months is not an adequate substitute for $50 in food stuffs on an ongoing basis. Moreover, because the two programs have different rules regarding assets, most seniors could not enroll in the FSP unless Congress first made significant changes in federal law.

In light of the clear differences between these two programs and the important role currently played by the CSFP, it makes sense to consider the relationship between these two programs during the reauthorization process and not within the context of 2007 appropriations. Indeed, the oversight committees of the Senate and the House will review both the CSFP and the FSP in the course of preparing the next Farm Bill. That work has already begun with completion planned by summer 2007.

Robert Forney, President and CEO of America’s Second Harvest, has accurately described the implications of eliminating the CSFP: “Cutting federal nutrition programs only further burdens our member food banks and food rescue organizations, which are already operating on extremely tight budgets and food supply. Reducing access to food means more people in the United States will go hungry.”

Given all that is at stake in the lives of CSFP participants, the Congress should give this matter the careful consideration it deserves. At minimum, this means opposing the Administration’s proposal to eliminate the CSFP through the 2007 appropriations process. We urge you to give leadership to the Senate on this important matter and to raise your voice in support of the CSFP and the low-income seniors it serves. Thank you.

This letter is endorsed by the following organizations.

Pennsylvania Hunger Action Center
Berry Friesen , Executive Director

PA Association of Regional Food Banks
Sheila Christopher, Executive Director

Greater Philadelphia Coalition Against Hunger
Karen K. Wilson, Executive Director

SHARE Food Program, Inc.
Steveanna Wynn, Executive Director

Westmoreland County Food Bank
Marlene Kozak, Executive Director

Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank
Joyce Rothermel, Executive Director

Greater Berks Food Bank
Peg Bianca, Executive Director

Central Pennsylvania Food Bank
Kendall Hanna, Executive Director

Community Action Comte of the Lehigh Valley
Alan Jennings, Executive Director

Second Harvest FB of Lehigh Valley & NE PA
Ann McManus, Program Director

Society of St. Vincent de Paul (Apollo Conf.)
Rich Trinclisti, Food Pantry Coordinator

45 th Pennsylvania Senatorial District
Sean Logan, Senator

Bethlehem Haven Shelter (Pittsburgh)
Marilyn Sullivan, Executive Director

Jewish Family and Children’s Service
Aryeh Sherman, Executive Director

Center for Community Services (Huntingdon)
Ann Foor, Assistant Director

PA Advocates for Nutrition and Activity
Allison Topper, Executive Director

Rainbow Kitchen Community Services (Pbgh)
Donna Little, Executive Director

CADCOM (Norristown)
Rick Beaton, Executive Director/CEO

Hunger Nutrition Coalition of Bucks County
JoAnn Connelly, Executive Committee

Allegheny County Dept. of Human Services
Rich Venezia, Administrator

Pennsylvania Council of Churches
Rev. Sandra L. Strauss, Dir. of Public Advocacy

Pittsburgh City Council District 8
William Peduto, Councilman

Project S.H.A.R.E. Food Bank
Elaine Livas, Executive Director

Diocese of Central PA, The Episcopal Church
Rt. Rev. Michael W. Creighton, Bishop

The Food Trust (Philadelphia)
Yael Lehmann, Executive Director

Weinberg Regional Food Bank
Richard. Kutz, Director

Community Action Association of PA
John Wilson, Executive Director

Northwestern PA Synod of the ELCA
Rev. Dr. Ralph E. Jones, Bishop 

38 th Pennsylvania Senatorial District
Jim Ferlo, Senator

Health Ministries of Christ Lutheran Church
Jody Silliker, Coordinator

Community Action Southwest
Darlene J. Bigler, Executive Director

United Way of Allegheny County
William Meyer, Chief Professional Officer

Thomas Merton Center (Pittsburgh)
Jim Kleissler, Coordinator

PA Association of Nonprofit Organizations
Joe Geiger, Executive Director

Penn State University – McKeesport
Curtiss E. Porter, Ph.D., Chancellor

40 th Pennsylvania Senatorial District
Jane C. Orie, Senator

Commission on Economic Opportunity
Monsignor Andrew J. McGowan, Board President

Health Promotion Council of S.E. PA
Jane “Muffin” Friedman, Director of NEP

PathWaysPA
Carol Goertzel, Executive Director

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