Like their counterparts across the Philadelphia region, Montgomery County providers of emergency food services are struggling against an ongoing convergence of negatives: supply-chain delays in an inflationary economy at a time of increased demand. Erin McCarthy reported the difficulties in The Philadelphia Inquirer.

The Share Food Program that serves seniors in Montgomery, Philadelphia, and Chester counties is indicative of the issue: A delay in a cereal box shipment was enough to throw deliveries off-kilter — the first time ever — for 7,000 regional seniors.

The concern is deeper than just transport; the current economy is causing twin setbacks of an increased number of residents needing emergency food services and the fear of decreased donations into 2023.

At Ambler’s Mattie N. Dixon Community Cupboard, for example, client requests are up 45 percent year over year, and donations are down 10 percent over the same period.

A representative from The Open Link (Pennsburg) also reports a supply-resource-demand imbalance over the next six months.

Food pantry manager, Hannah Leifheit at Martha’s Choice Marketplace in Norristown said, “We are maxed out. If I start to think about rising costs and what we’re going to have to refuse our families, it kind of puts me in a state of paralysis.”

The complete account of the regional difficulty with emergency food services is at The Philadelphia Inquirer.

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The Valley Forge Tourism & Convention Board has an annual effort to address the in-county issue of food insecurity; this video hearkens back to its first drive.