Rows of shelves at Second Harvest Food Bank in East Allen Township, once fully stocked with products like milk, fresh produce and proteins, are increasingly bare.
The shortage isn’t just about supply, but also about funding. Federal budget cuts and Pennsylvania’s delayed budget have been threatening programs thousands of families across the Lehigh Valley rely on.
“We went from serving about 90,000 people per month to 124,000,” said Sarah Wassel, the associate executive director of Second Harvest. “We are seeing a very large increase in people coming to the pantries.”…