It was back in 2023 that one of my fellow parishioners at St Elizabeth of Hungary Catholic Church told us that the Estill County Community Food Bank was losing the ‘extra’ money coming from the federal government in COVID-19 ’emergency’ money was ending. The parish council then decided that we would take up a quarterly extra second collection specifically for the Food Bank, and I’m happy to say that most of those second collections netted slightly over $1,000 for the organization.
I thought of that when I saw the tweet on the right from WPVI-TV in Philadelphia, and the following (brief) story:
Delaware Food Bank loses nearly 1M meals after Trump administration ended food aid funding
The Trump administration ended food aid funding earlier this month.
By 6abc Digital Staff | Wednesday, March 26, 2025 | 8:17 AM EDT
The Food Bank of Delaware says it will have to cancel nearly one million meals because the federal government canceled upcoming food deliveries.
The Trump administration ended food aid funding earlier this month.
The nonprofit food bank said losing 900,000 meals could not come at a worse time, as demand is rising across the First State.
That’s it; that’s all there was. The Wilmington News-Journal had more, while The Philadelphia Inquirer had a more general story:
Pa. food banks are facing millions in federal funding cuts as they fear increased need
President Donald Trump’s administration eliminated a program that helped food banks buy food directly from local farmers.
by Katie Bernard and Julia Terruso | Tuesday, March 25, 2025 | 5:00 AM EST
Philabundance, the region’s largest food bank, is staring down an 18% drop in what it can spend on food next fiscal year.
In central Pennsylvania, a food bank serving 27 counties will have nearly $2 million less for milk and fresh vegetables provided by local farmers in the area.
Federal cuts to food banks have left organizations that fight hunger across Pennsylvania grappling with how to provide for those most in need after the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced earlier this month that the $470 million Local Food Purchase Assistance (LFPA) program would be eliminated.
In Pennsylvania, state officials said the end of that program means a loss of $13 million statewide.
We lived in Delaware for two years, sending our daughters to Catholic school there, so I know just how expensive those parochial schools can be. Padua Academy, where my older daughter would have matriculated had we not moved to the Keystone State, has a listed tuition of $17,577 per year, exclusive of some other fees. Salesianum has a listed tuition for 2025-26 of $21,200. St Marks High School lists a tuition of $17,760 + $550 in a General Administrative Fee.
But those are the direct Diocesan schools. The independent Catholic school, tony Archmere Academy, where the very working-class Joe Biden attended, is a whopping $35,600 for the upcoming school year, while Ursuline Academy is a relative bargain at $29,850.
If our small parish, just 24 families, in a poor county, can voluntarily pony up for the local food bank, what could the Catholic parishes and families in Delaware afford to send to help their citizens? What could the good parishioners of very well-to-do St Mary of the Assumption, where I was once a parishioner, do to help those who need it?
Delaware is a fairly well-to-do state; the good people there should be able to help those with less by themselves, and should be able to do so privately.
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