Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank creates Neighbor Leadership Council to fight food insecurity
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PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- There are so many people in the Pittsburgh area who can't afford a Thanksgiving meal, and that's why your donations to the Turkey Fund are so important.
It's also important to hear directly from the people who live with food insecurity every day.
That's why the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank formed a new group this year to do just that.
"The goal is really to give an opportunity to our neighbors who are facing food insecurity to have an opportunity to elevate their voices in the process," said Colleen Young, the Director of Government Affairs for the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank.
The food bank's Neighbor Leadership Council was formed to make sure the voices of people living with food insecurity are heard by the people who need to hear them.
There currently are eight members in the group, and they meet at least once a month to tackle food insecurity head-on. Each member has first-hand knowledge of what it's like to live with food insecurity.
"It has a million different faces. For every person living in that situation, there's a different look, a different person. I am one of the invisible poor. You'd never know, looking at me, that I have dealt with domestic violence, that I have lived in a family where racism was an issue, that I've had to eat bean soup for an entire week because that's all I could afford," said Neighbor Leadership Council member Elayne Masters.
Fellow council member Lea Satchivi added, "I remember my little daughter, at 7 years old, asked me for oranges at the store. I wasn't able to buy it, and she cried because a child doesn't know why she cannot have an orange."
"I think one of the things I've learned is just the variety of the different experiences that people are having and what brings them to the food bank in the first place really varies from person to person. And their own unique experiences are such a rich part of the story that we want to tell so that people understand the wide variety of reasons why people can be food insecure," said Young.
The food bank says their personal experience makes the council members' work more impactful.
Young said, "Elected officials and policymakers are often making decisions about programs and policies that impact our neighbors and we really want to have them have a strong voice in the process so that those elected officials really understand the real-world impacts of the decisions they're making."
Take SNAP benefits, for example. Masters's SNAP benefits were recently decreased considerably, and she now gets just $23 a month.
Masters said, "And here's what that covers. I can either get a bag of produce with some lettuce, some tomatoes, some onions, some potatoes, some celery, a couple of pieces of fruit, and maybe a cucumber. Or I can get two pounds of ground beef, two pounds of chicken, two packages of cheese, and two dozen eggs. That's what I get for a whole month. So when the politicians are looking at this and they're talking about, 'Should we increase SNAP?' think about that. Think about, 'What does that mean for someone?'"
For Satchivi, it's about educating neighbors and friends about what's available, and not being embarrassed to take help.
"I'm not ashamed to say that I come to the food bank twice a month at least, and then I volunteer here, too. People need to know that the food bank is there for everyone, and it's not shameful or shameless to go there and grab the free food," said Satchivi.
In the end, they say it all boils down to basic human decency.
"That's the message I want them to hear and see. I want them to see the people that are in need, let go of some of those ideas that separate us, and look at what unites us. Feeding your neighbor is a concept that has been with humanity from the beginning," said Masters.
You can help ensure that everyone has enough to eat this holiday season by donating to the KDKA-TV Turkey Fund.
And now is your chance to help by donating to the KDKA-TV Turkey Fund. Go to any PNC Bank, and they'll match all donations of $50 or more. Or you can donate digitally by texting "KDTURKEY" to 50155 or by going to kdka.com/turkeyfund.
We're also still accepting checks, just like Turkey Fund creator Al Julius did. You can mail them to P.O. Box Thanks, Pittsburgh, PA 15230. And from all of us at KDKA-TV: thank you!