As holidays approach, families face ‘perfect storm’ of hardship and hunger

The past year has been difficult for many families as the cost of living crisis continues with new factors adding to families’ burdens.

Rising prices on food, housing, transportation and utilities have made family life unaffordable for many across the region.

“I think what’s most important is for people to understand that this has been increasing, even prior to SNAP benefits being stopped on November 1,” said Cindy Wedholm, executive director of the Ambler-based Mattie N. Dixon Community Cupboard in Montgomery County.

The 43-day-long federal government shutdown threatened assistance for many who rely on Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program dollars. While the government has since reopened, ripple effects are being felt in communities everywhere.

“It’s a perfect storm in many ways,” said Sheldon Good, Manna on Main Street’s director of development and strategic direction.

Food insecurity remains a top issue in Montgomery County as some 63,000 families rely on federal food assistance funds, he noted.

“This isn’t theoretical,” Good said. “These are real, impossible choices the people we serve who rely on SNAP are being forced to make every day.”

“They rob Peter to pay Paul so to speak,” Wedholm said, referring to family choices. “So they ignore certain bills because they know that they can’t afford it, and they’re going to focus on one. Or, if they have the luxury of having transportation, is it reliable?

“Or do they need new tires and they can’t afford that, or do they get tires and not eat for a day or two? I think it’s the families that we see and the stories that I hear from other pantries is that the depth of the stress that families are under when they can’t afford food is unfathomable.”

Rising need hits food pantries

Mattie Dixon’s food procurement figures were 35% to 40% higher than October 2023. The Ambler-based pantry added a third food distribution day during the government shutdown to provide further accessibility to families and furloughed federal workers. Volunteers saw 28 new families in just two hours.

“It just goes to show you the need is out there right now, and people are panicked,” Wedholm said.

In the North Penn area, Manna on Main Street distributed 15,596 meals and recorded 1,673 grocery orders last month, according to Good, who noted the uptick from 14,584 meals in October 2024 and 12,501 meals in October 2023.

“This past week, we served about 10 percent more meals and groceries than normal, more than nearly any week on record,” Good said in early November.

The increased need in the community is something that’s crystal clear to Jay Worrall, president of Helping Harvest, a food bank that serves Berks and Schuylkill counties.

“We just ran the numbers, and October was our second largest monthly distribution ever,” Worrall said, noting the food bank’s numbers have returned to COVID-19 pandemic levels.

“We’re experiencing very high volumes right now,” Worrall said. “People who are food insecure are feeling even more so. And we have a lot more people coming to pantries and mobile markets, so much so that we’re struggling to get enough food there to serve them.”

At a recent mobile market stop in Wernersville, Berks County, food started to run out within the first few hours, forcing Helping Harvest to send out a second truck.

“It’s been a challenging time,” Worrall said. “People need more help from us than they have in the past.”

Food insecurity keeps growing

Around 85,000 people reportedly experienced food insecurity in Montgomery County in 2023, according to Feeding America. Food pantries say that number has grown.

The Keystone Opportunity Center, based in Souderton, noted a 23% increase in families served in the third quarter of 2025 as compared to last year, according to Kyle Foster, food pantry manager at the center.

“It’s our neighbors, the person in line behind you at the grocery store. It’s anybody,” Foster said. “And how prevalent it is in Montgomery County is not well-known. One in nine people in Montgomery County will experience food insecurity. So it’s a lot.”

Around 250 to 275 families received food in a given month, but now Foster said the organization’s pushing about 350 families a month.

“We are seeing an extreme intake in new families, single moms, veterans, people who haven’t been to the pantry in years,” Foster said. “It’s definitely a difficult situation, but thankfully our fridges and freezers will remain stocked thanks to the community.”

‘People haven’t forgotten about us’

Community members stepped up in recent weeks as food pantries across the region were inundated with donations to help those in need. A number of grassroots drives were organized, including on Election Day when voters could drop off food donations on their way to the polls.

“A lot of the community members have stepped up, a lot of businesses have stepped up, individuals, neighborhoods, kids, everybody, and the influx of donations has been just heartwarming,” Wedholm said.

“It’s inspiring and humbling to see the community rally for Manna, for our neighbors, and the people we serve, there’s dozens of people and groups that are running food drives for us right now,” Good said.

“It’s amazing how they have stepped up,” said Liam Murphy, executive director of the Patrician Society, as people visited the food pantry in Norristown with cars filled with donations.

He emphasized how “we’ve been able to keep up with the demand.”

“People haven’t forgotten about us,” said Grace and Cecil Bean’s Soup Kitchen Managing Director Terri Stone in Norristown.

Stone said she’s seen a recent increase in turnout during meal service days. As a fully donor-funded nonprofit, Stone said she is overwhelmed by the community’s generosity.

“People want to step in; when the government can’t and the government won’t, the community steps in, and fills the gap, which I think is beautiful,” Stone said.

Montgomery County commissioners also designated $500,000 in emergency funding for food assistance in late October. As the holiday season gets underway, Philadelphia’s Share Food Program Chief Communications Officer Jess Bautista reflected on the impacts now that the impasse has ended. Bautista spoke while volunteering in Norristown at an early Thanksgiving meal service at Bean’s soup kitchen.

“The need has been incredibly great, and it’s only going up, and the government shutdown kind of exacerbated that entirely,” Bautista said. “So while there’s some relief that the shutdown is over, hunger is still on the rise.”

“Anybody that has never had that lived experience does not understand the depth of it and how it affects absolutely every piece of them,” Wedholm said, stressing the ranging impacts from physical health to financial anxiety.

“Kids can’t learn when they’re hungry,” Wedholm said. “Your health is taken for granted if you can’t afford to go to the doctor, or you know that you’re not going to be able to afford the medicine, or that you are choosing food that is not nutritionally dense or good for you because it’s cheaper.”

“This will have long lasting impacts on people’s health and well-being for years to come,” Good said.

On the economic side of the issue, Wedholm observed how the cost of living is huge in this region. While rents have skyrocketed, Wedholm noted, the state and federal hourly minimum wage is still set at $7.25.

“It’s not feasible for anyone to be able to afford to live if they have a full-time job with minimum wage,” she said. “So it’s this onion of issues that hunger is just one of those … that just needs to be fixed, unfortunately, but it’s a pretty complex issue to address.”

Impact of immigration enforcement

In addition to affordability, immigration has been another key issue impacting some low income communities. Federal agents conducting immigration enforcement have become an increased presence throughout the region, placing communities on edge.

In the face of that fear, food pantry leaders have emphasized the importance of continued accessibility for those in need.

“I definitely feel that it has lessened their activity with our food pantry. They’re scared to come out,” Wedholm said of those in immigrant communities.

“People are afraid,” Murphy said. “They’re nervous to come out because, I mean, you never know, right? You never know where they’re going to be. Every now and then you’ll hear a rumor that they were in another place.”

But people in the nonprofit sectors underscored the need to be a trusted resource for everyone.

“We were trying to be a bright spot in people’s lives. If they get some food out of it too, we want people to feel comfortable here,” said Joe Maccolini, an executive assistant and former executive director of the Patrician Society.

Stone agreed.

“It’s a place that can be relied upon when there’s need,” Stone said. “Here’s my motto: ‘If we have it, it’s yours.’ We have a hot meal, you can have that, toiletries … whatever we have is for you.”

Nonprofit organizations expressed their gratitude for community contributions and encouraged those able to continue donating to their local food pantries.

“This is an all-hands-on-deck moment. Whatever matters most to you in terms of taking action and supporting your local organizations, the time is now,” Good said.

Staff writers David Mekeel of Reading Eagle and John Worthington of The Reporter contributed to this report.