September is Hunger Action Awareness month and the Central Pennsylvania Food Bank is sounding the alarm.

The COVID-19 pandemic showed there was a hunger crisis in the region, but now with inflation, the hunger crisis continues, said Central Pennsylvania Food Bank Executive Director Joe Arthur.

"We want people to know that the crisis is not done, that the hunger crisis is very much real and at a high level," Arthur said.

Now, much of the support the food bank received in the past few years has gone away.

"Here in 2022, a lot of that support is is tapered down," Arthur said. "So, now we've got the issue of less of those additional kind of emergency resources coming to households. But costs are higher for them."

While unemployment is low, that does not mean people's incomes are higher, Arthur explained.

"We just see a lot of people that were kind of on the edge and now all of a sudden can't quite make the food bill because the gas bill so much higher. Their utilities are higher, their rent is higher," Arthur said. "What we're seeing in our communities is really just this steady increase in the amount of people that are reaching out for help to our partner organizations and them leaning on us harder for more healthy food."

The Food Bank relies on a network of suppliers to stay fully stocked, but there have been supply chain issues.

"Our grocers are wonderful. Our food producers are wonderful, but they're pretty stretched to try to meet demand right now," Arthur said. "And they're facing supply line challenges as well. We're buying more food and unfortunately we have the same challenge of other businesses. Those costs for food are going up, as [are] fuel costs. So, we are managing it."

The best way to help, Arthur said, is to volunteer or contribute financially. To do so, visit www.centralpafoodbank.org

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