- Event: Food Insecurity Summit
- Date: Saturday, September 12, 2026
- Time: 8:30am – 4:00pm
- Location: St. Barnabas Center, 234 E. Main Street, Kutztown, PA 19530
- Registration (Free but required): By phone: 484-648-2814 or By email: stbarnabascenter@hometownu.com
The purpose of the event is to help area residents develop greater awareness about the extent of food insecurity within our area and equip participants with tangible ways in which each participant can become part of the effort in which neighbors can help neighbors.
The summit will feature a keynote speaker, two expert discussion panels and an information resource area.
There will be a post event picnic so that participants can network and meet people interested in addressing this issue locally full-day event where we had panel discussions, break for lunch and return with strategies for everyone to participate in fighting the war against hunger.
Sometime in 1964 an aide to the President named Bill Moyers gave President Johnson a book to take home with him for the weekend. The name of the book was called The Other America by Michael Harrington. Mr. Harrington, a Catholic social worker who manned soup lines in New York City, wanted Americans to see “the other America” where poverty and scarcity of food existed. On Monday morning Johnson came in and asked Bill if it was really true that kids were going to bed hungry at night in America. Bill told him it was. Thus began the birth of the War on Poverty.
The War on Poverty was making terrific progress until politicians in opposition worked continually to slim it down, remove some benefits, and complain that it was a budget buster. These same politicians over time continued to give more and more tax cuts to the wealthy making their percentage of contributions to the running of the country at an all-time low. Today they use the gigantic deficits that they themselves created with the tax cuts as an excuse to continue cutting from programs that benefit people.
Food insecurity is rampant in this country. There are many great groups and individuals in this country trying to work on this problem, but they are overwhelmed by the sheer size and evergrowing need of people who can’t put enough food on the table. Inflation is hitting food very hard. Layoffs of thousands of government workers exacerbate the problem.
Inflation has played a huge part for many people’s ability to access enough food for their family. We are facing an era that will see robots running warehouses and self-drive taxicabs and other modes of transportation. These changes will put great stress on displaced workers’ ability to feed their families. To get us through this period of technological and political change we must band together as Americans and ask ourselves “What can we do to help? How can we become part of the answer?”
St Barnabas is having a major full-day event on September 12th from 8:30 am to 4:00 pm. to address this issue. You will hear from people who are in the field “fighting the good fight.” You’ll hear panel discussions about what you can do to help. We’ll have a nice lunch and then go back to work. More details in this issue. Mark your calendar and be there. Become a soldier in the “War Against Hunger”.
A quick online search returned some very sobering statistics concerning food insecurity in our own backyard. The struggle that many of our neighbors are experiencing is hiding in plain sight. We’re all feeling the pinch, with the cost of gas and heating fuel rising precipitously, medical and insurance expenses out of control, and the spiraling cost of higher education—small wonder that ordinary folks are finding it difficult to afford even the basic necessities of life. The statistics below come from the Helping Harvest website:
- 12% of the population of Berks County and Schuylkill County live in poverty and thus face hunger issues.
- Of those living in poverty, nearly 24,500 are children under the age of 18.
- More than 38,000 school-aged children in Berks and Schuylkill Counties are eligible for the National School Lunch Program’s free and reduced lunches. This represents more than 52% of the population of school-aged children in Berks County and Schuylkill County.
- More than 110,000 people in Berks and Schuylkill Counties qualify for food assistance.
Saint Barnabas Center will be hosting a community summit on food insecurity, Fighting Food Insecurity Together: From Understanding to Action.
The purpose of the event is to help area residents develop greater awareness about the extent of food insecurity within our area and equip participants with tangible ways in which each participant can become part of the effort in which neighbors can help neighbors.
The summit will feature a keynote speaker, two panels of local experts, a resource fair and an open fellowship luncheon sponsored by the Saint Barnabas Center and its partners.
Please plan on joining us for this important event. The event is free but pre-registration is requested. Registration details will be available in the coming days on our Facebook page or by contacting the Center at 484-648-2814 or email stbarnabascenter@hometownu.com.