Feed the Need: More than a food drive

OWEGO — In Tioga County, the need for food assistance is real and growing. This September, the community has an opportunity to help make sure our neighbors have access to something everyone deserves: enough food to eat.

When most people think about a food pantry, they may picture shelves stocked with canned goods and families stopping in to pick up a box of food. Catholic Charities Tioga serves individuals and families throughout the county who are facing food insecurity alongside a variety of other challenges.

In 2025 alone, Catholic Charities provided assistance to thousands of individuals and families through services including food pantry support, personal care products, utility assistance, rent assistance, gasoline assistance, diapers, and more. The need extends far beyond the boundaries of one community.

In fact, clients served by Catholic Charities in 2025 came from communities across Tioga County, including Owego, Waverly, Nichols, Apalachin, Barton, Candor, Newark Valley, Spencer, Lockwood and other local communities. The Food Pantry alone served more than 3,000 families and nearly 9,000 individuals.

That is why Feed the Need Fest is about more than collecting food. It is about ensuring Catholic Charities Tioga has the resources necessary to continue responding to that need.

One of the ways Catholic Charities is working to stretch those resources is through Tioga F.R.E.S.H. Food Recovery. The program works with community partners to rescue good, usable food that might otherwise go to waste and redirect it to people who need it. This program has grown dramatically.

In 2023, Tioga F.R.E.S.H. recovered 32,375.5 pounds of food through six partner locations. In 2024, that number more than doubled to 70,033.8 pounds, with nine partner locations. By 2025, the program had recovered an incredible 87,747.9 pounds of food through 12 partner locations.

That’s a three-year total of 190,157.2 pounds of recovered food. And the momentum has continued. Between January 1 and June 30, 2026, Tioga F.R.E.S.H had already recovered 43,008.8 pounds of food from 13 partner locations. Every pound represents food that can be redirected to help feed our neighbors instead of ending up in a landfill. But recovering food is only part of the equation. Catholic Charities also needs the resources to transport, store, distribute, and provide access to that food. This is what takes community support.

The work doesn’t happen without people. At the Tioga Outreach Center in Nichols, volunteers contributed 1,161 hours in 2025. Those hours represent neighbors helping neighbors: sorting, organizing, distributing, assisting clients and doing the countless behind-the-scenes jobs that allow Catholic Charities to serve the community.

Food assistance is not simply about food. It is about dignity, stability and the ability to make it through a difficult season. For someone struggling to pay rent, keep the lights on, purchase gas or cover other household expenses, a pantry visit can mean one less impossible choice.

This September, Catholic Charities Tioga is bringing the community together for Feed the Need Fest, a multi-day effort designed to raise both food and funds for the Catholic Charities food pantry and Tioga F.R.E.S.H. Food Recovery.

From Sept. 7–10, a food drive will be held at the Aldi in Owego, offering community members an easy way to donate food while they shop.

Then, on Sept. 11 from 4–7 p.m., the celebration continues at the Elks Club in Owego with the Empty Bowls Soup Tasting. Empty Bowls is built around a simple idea: a meal can remind us of what it means to go without, and a handmade bowl can become a tangible symbol of our community’s commitment to making sure fewer people do.

Guests will be able to enjoy soup, participate in the competition, purchase handmade bowls, and enjoy an evening centered around food, community, and a very important cause. Every dollar raised will help support the programs that put food on tables throughout Tioga County.

Food insecurity can affect working families, seniors, children, individuals living on fixed incomes, and people who have experienced an unexpected financial setback.

It can happen to a neighbor, a coworker, a friend, or a family who never expected to need assistance. The numbers tell us that the need is here. The growth of Tioga F.R.E.S.H. tells us the community is responding. The thousands of volunteer hours and community donations tell us something else: Tioga County cares about its neighbors. Feed the Need Fest is an invitation to keep that momentum going.

Donate food at the Aldi food drive. Attend the Empty Bowls Soup Tasting. Purchase a bowl. Become a sponsor. Volunteer. Make a financial contribution. Bring a friend. There are many ways to help, and each one contributes to the same goal: making sure our neighbors have enough food on the table. This September, Tioga County can do more than feed the need. We can come together to fight it.