25 Years of Leadership to End Hunger
 Advocacy
and Food Banking: A Pennsylvania Partnership
Do advocacy and feeding the hungry fit together?
That may seem an odd question. In many states there has been tension
between these two branches of the anti-hunger movement. But not
in Pennsylvania. How that has been achieved is a story worth celebrating.
The roots of the partnership go back to 1983
when the Pennsylvania Coalition for Food and Nutrition (later
re-named Hunger Action) was five years old. Food bankers Mike
Spencer (Westmoreland County), Chris Rebstock (Pittsburgh), Sister
Gus Hamel (Erie), Martha Crouse (Washington County) and Teresa
Woody (Harrisburg) began meeting with Coalition director Jim Stephenson
to plan a campaign to convince state government to fund what later
became the State Food Purchase Program (SFPP). By 1984 the food
bankers had established their own organization, the Pennsylvania
Association of Regional Food Banks (PARF).
“From the start PARF came together as an advocacy
effort,” recalls Janet Ney, a food banker from the Lehigh Valley
who served as PARF president during much of the ‘80s, “and the
Coalition provided the structure and support for it to get started.”
After the SFPP was established, PARF faced the annual challenge
of convincing the General Assembly to provide adequate funding.
The Coalition was a natural ally in the effort and the SFPP provided
an annual opportunity to join forces and work together.
Money played a positive role too. In the mid-‘80s
the Coalition ran into hard financial times. Staff were let go
and there was no money to pay Stephenson. PARF stepped up and
began paying the Coalition to advocate for the SFPP in Harrisburg.
“The Coalition wouldn’t have survived without that PARF contract,”
recalls Ney. “They saved the day.”
There were other joint efforts to support food
banking, such as convincing the Department of Community and Economic
Development to let food banks utilize tax credits through the
Neighborhood Assistance Program. Again, the support was reciprocal.
As the Coalition took the lead in organizing support for child
nutrition programs such as WIC and School Breakfast, PARF added
its voice in support.
Through the ‘80s and into the ‘90s the food banks
became well established with substantial assets and successful
capital campaigns. Charitable food distribution began to claim
a growing share of the public attention and food bankers became
the recognized spokespersons for the anti-hunger movement. With
the country as a whole turning in a more conservative political
direction, many seemed eager to see food banking as the solution
to hunger. Meanwhile, the Coalition had difficulty raising funds
and its Board perceived charitable food distribution to be a
short-term expedient, not a solution. The potential for a rift
was plain to see.
In 1994 the Coalition decided to end its 10-year
agreement with PARF to serve as its Harrisburg representative.
Kathleen Daugherty, then executive director of the Coalition,
remembers the difficulty of that decision. “We had a lot on our
plate: an expanded Super Cupboard Program, child nutrition workshops
and the possibility that Congress would block grant all of the
child nutrition programs. At the same time, the Board was developing
a new mission statement, a different name and a focus on economic
self-sufficiency as the key to ending hunger. The agenda was
full and our staff was limited. We continued to support the food
banks by advocating energetically for the SFPP but it seemed consistent
with our mission and resources to create a little more space between
our two organizations.”
Although the formal agreement had ended, the
cooperation continued. In 1998, at the initiative of Tim Whelan,
then director for the Central PA Food Bank and PARF president,
the two organizations again entered into an arrangement by which
the Coalition (now Hunger Action) provided staff services to PARF.
In 2002 Hunger Action returned the favor, granting PARF seed money
to help it hire its own executive director. Both groups have
continued to work together in support of the SFPP, the Farmers’
Market Nutrition Program and the Commodity Supplemental Food Program.
So why has Pennsylvania succeeded where other
states have failed? Working together, year after year, is the
key.
Part Five: Playing Defense
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