As Budget Stalemate Hurts Food Banks, Local Students Provide Helping Hand

The budget stalemate in Pennsylvania’s legislature is still going strong.

In fact, governor Tom Wolf recently sent state legislators his budget proposal for the coming fiscal year with no budget passed for the current fiscal year, which started in July — making this the eighth month of the stalemate.

That has resulted in issues like withheld aid money for students counting on state grants, prompting Penn State to essentially loan its students that money until the state passes a budget and pays the university back.

But that’s just one of many ways the state is hurting while elected officials squabble over the budget. Food banks throughout Pennsylvania are short on funds without state funding, and in State College, local students are chipping in to help fill that gap.

‘Food banks throughout Pennsylvania are suffering,’ said Carol Pioli, Executive Director of State College Food Bank. ‘Some of us haven’t received the funding we rely on to help those in need in our communities.’

According to a press release from Saint Joseph’s Catholic Academy, located in Boalsburg, students at the school collected nearly 500 pounds of items to restock the shelves of the State College Food Bank. The school’s Service Club brought together students, parents, faculty, and staff in the collection effort, receiving over 500 items weighing in at 493 pounds for the food bank, including canned meats, oatmeal, coffee, soap, shampoo, and more.

Saint Joseph’s student Jordan Wiser said that the school knew the food bank’s stock would be low in the wake of the busy holiday season, prompting the philanthropic effort.

“We knew that supplies at the food bank would be low after the holidays,” Wiser said. “We rallied around ‘service’ — one of our four pillars — and thanks to tremendous generosity, we collected a lot of items on the ‘greatest need list’ we received from the food bank. It was a perfect opportunity to come together as a school to serve our community.”

Piolo was of course very thankful to see the shelves at her food bank filled with items collected by the students at Saint Joseph’s.

“The donation from Saint Joe’s came at a critical time,” she said. “Donations are important year round, but especially after the holiday season. People are very generous in December, but that can make January tough. As the holiday spirit dwindles, so do donations.”

It seems that there’s no lack of holiday spirit amongst the student body at Saint Joseph’s.