Legislators urged to help fund local food banks

By Matt Freeze —

Legislators were urged to consider contributing to local food banks, as two individuals took the privilege of the floor at Tuesday’s Tioga County Legislature meeting.

Kermit Bossard of the Spencer Food Cupboard told legislators about the dramatic increase in food assistance needs for local families.

Bossard said the small, rural, poor municipality of Spencer reported that the number of families in need of food assistance has gone up considerably.

“In pre-COVID numbers, we were serving 931 families, or about 2,400 individuals,” Bossard said. “Right now, we’re serving about 2,500 families, pushing 7,000 individuals.”

That’s about a 250 percent increase, he said.

“Our food cost, pre-COVID, was approximately $18,000 — now, it’s $90,000,” he said. “Food Bank of the Southern Tier kicks in a little bit because they get grants from the federal government and the state, and they pass them on to us.”

Bossard said that including the grant assistance, their food costs still come in at about $52,000, representing a 400% increase.

“Our numbers are going up this year again, as they have been — it is a concern,” Bossard said. “The cost and number of families have not yet been fully realized here.”

Working with the food bank, Bossard said he’s spoken with many families.

“What they talk about is the rents going up, utilities going up, cost of food going up,” he said. “There’s much more demand we see coming to Spencer’s Food Cupboard. It’s tough, and it’s a small community with not a lot of industry. The need, by the way, is not political.”

Bossard told legislators that the Spencer operation survives on about 75 volunteers.

“So, the question is, why isn’t the county helping those pantries out there,” he asked.

Bossard said benefits and free food are being cut now, not in the future.

“If this continues, we’re going to have to really look at how we feed the hungry — after all, it’s a moral issue, not a political issue,” he said. “The only thing keeping our food coverage together is grants and foundations, and I don’t know how long we can keep that up. How long are they going to do that?”

Bossard said the county used to help fund food banks through Tioga Opportunities, and he would like to see that assistance again.

“Just a little bit of help,” he said. “We’re not asking you for the whole $50,000 — last year, we had 125 different donors, residents of Spencer, give to our food pantry. So, we’re not asking for all of it; we’re just asking for a slice. Something we can depend on and go back to year after year that would help us.”

Sarah DeFrank of the Southern Tier Food Bank also spoke to legislators during privilege of the floor.

DeFrank told legislators that from a food bank perspective locally in the Southern Tier, there’s been a loss equivalent to 15 tractor-trailers’ worth of USDA food.

“That was prime, perishable, nutrient-dense food,” DeFrank said. “The cancellations represent an equivalent of 215,408 meals, valued at over $434,000 in food.”

DeFrank said that foods have been replaced with similar weight but different product types.

“So, what we were getting before or what we were scheduled to receive were perishables like meat, dairy, and eggs — things like that,” she said. “What we received was kind of brief fruits and nuts.”

DeFrank said the supply basically transformed from meal items into “snacks and trail mix.”

Following Tuesday’s meeting, Legislative Chairwoman Marte Sauerbrey told the Morning Times that the county is quite a long way into next year’s budget.

“We’re too far into the budget, and at this time, we’re not going to budget for additional funds,” she said. “That would be a decision for the Legislature for the ’27 budget, so they would decide that next year.”

At this point, it remains to be seen what impact cuts have on a local level, she said.

“A lot of this is rumored,” she said. “For instance, there were HEAP concerns that it would be taken away, and it’s not,” she said. “The other thing is that SNAP funding cuts are largely focused on people receiving funding who really didn’t qualify.”

Some people were not telling the truth on the forms, she continued.

“Because we’re so efficient here, we haven’t had much of that,” Sauerbrey said. The SNAP benefits will still be available for those people who qualify, she said.

“Now, some people are going to be required to either work 20 hours a week or volunteer for 20 hours a week, or pursue education,” she said. “If they do that, they can continue to receive the benefits.”

“We’re still maintaining those benefits,” she added.

Sauerbrey said that while she supports local food banks, and that there very well could be local impacts from the federal cuts, some of the public concern is born out of fear.

“And the truth of it is, once we start [funding], we will always have to continue,” she said. “The individual food banks do fundraisers that support them, and that’s tough on Spencer because if it’s a lower-income population, they’re less [able] to donate to their community. It’s a hard decision.”

But again, in just a few months, the county will be signing off on next year’s budget, she said.